KUALA LUMPUR (April 9): Mercedes Benz Malaysia has launched its new A-class limousine.

Speaking at the launch of the car today, Mercedes Benz Malaysia vice president of sales and marketing Mark Raine said the A-class limousine complemented the group's offerings in Malaysia.

When asked if the group was looking at manufacturing the A-class cars in Malaysia at its complete knock-down (CKD) plant in Pekan, Pahang, Raine said it was continuously looking at its product mix and evaluating demand for its Malaysia-assembled CKD cars.

"With all the segments and all the vehicles that we have, we are constantly observing how the market is receptive to it [various car models]," he added.

The A-class Limousine comes in two variants — the A200 Progressive Line, which is priced at RM229,888, and the A250 AMG Line, which costs RM267,888.

In the first quarter of the 2019 calendar year (1QCY19), the German car manufacturer sold 2,944 cars, from the 3,330 cars sold on 1QCY18.

In particular, its compact car segment saw the most growth, increasing by 28% to 427 cars sold during 1QCY19.

Its dream cars also saw more sales, with a 15% increase to 108 cars sold during the quarter.

When asked if the car manufacturer could surpass its 2018 high of 3,453 cars in 2QCY18, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia president and CEO Dr Claus Weidner said he was unable to disclose further on the group's targets for the following quarter.

"We are continuing to implement our strategy going forward and are confident that it will be a successful 2QCY19 and a successful year," he added.

On the outlook of 2019, Raine said the group is positive on the luxury car market, despite a potential decrease in the total industry volume to around 510,000 vehicles for the year.

"[While] we have seen a slight sluggishness in 1QCY19, the premium luxury market is holding its strength in general," said Raine.