KUALA LUMPUR: Premium German automaker Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Sdn Bhd has sold 1,886 vehicles in the first quarter of this year (1Q15), up 13% from 1,676 vehicles in the same period last year.

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia president and chief executive officer Roland Folger said the strong performance was driven by sales of its energy-efficient vehicles E300 Blue TEC Hybrid (638 units) and S400L Hybrid (270 units).

“Sales in March 2015 peaked a record-breaking 967 units, the highest milestone that we have achieved in our 11-year history in this country. I must also mention that sales of the locally-assembled S400L have ballooned by over 10 times in 1Q15 from the same period last year,” he told reporters during a media briefing yesterday.

Folger added that another major boost to its stellar 1Q15 performance was sales of the E-class, which increased 15% to 1,034 units from 638 units in 1Q14.

“I must say that sales in Malaysia have strongly supported the overall sales performance in Southeast Asia and eventually global growth,” Folger said.

Globally, Mercedes-Benz saw sales of its vehicles in March soar 15.7% to 183,467 units, pushing global sales to 429,062 units in 1Q15.

Without giving a specific target, Folger hopes to maintain, if not accelerate, the sales momentum of Mercedes-Benz cars this year.

“I see a good opportunity this year for us to chart growth in our sales,” he said.

Last year, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia — which ranked 14th in the country in terms of overall sales volume and third among European cars sold — saw sales of its cars jump 28.5% to 7,131 units from 5,550 units in 2013, which expanded its market share to 1.1% from 0.8% previously.

Of European cars sold here last year, Volkswagen topped the list with 8,916 units, followed by BMW with 7,808 units and Mercedes-Benz with 7,131 units. Trailing behind Mercedes-Benz is France’s Peugeot, with 5,498 units sold in 2014 and Sweden’s Volvo with 1,210 units.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 23, 2015.