Annual balance sheet 2009: Daimler stops slide at the end of the year

Sales fell to 1.129 million cars, as Daimler announced on Friday (January 8th). Of this, the M ercedes -Benz, which lost 9.7 percent.

'We were able to gradually improve sales in the second half of the year, after the first half of the year was marked by a sharp decline in the market,' said Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche on Friday. The new Mercedes E- Class , which was offered at the end of March as a sedan and since November also as a station wagon.

In the current year, the group expects a slight increase in sales. Hopes rest primarily on the E-Class, which will also be available as a convertible from January. In addition, the product range for so-called 'Blue Efficiency' vehicles with fuel-efficient engines is to be expanded from 58 to 76 models.

Mercedes strong in fourth quarter

Im December saw the Mercedes-Benz brand with 97,700 cars sold, an increase of 12.4 percent. In the fourth quarter as a whole, the increase was 13 percent compared to the previous year's period, which was already affected by the crisis.

For the home market, the Dax group reported a decline of twelve percent for the Mercedes-Benz brand to 265,500 units for the year as a whole. In Western Europe (excluding Germany) the decline was even more pronounced, at 15 percent to 286,100 cars. In the US, the drop was also 15 percent to 190,600 vehicles. There was a new record in China: deliveries climbed by 65 percent to 70,100 vehicles. This makes Mercedes-Benz the fastest growing premium brand in the Middle Kingdom.

Smart is weakening

The small car brand Smart , on the other hand, weakened last year. Deliveries fell by more than 13 percent to 117,000 cars. The new generation of models expected in the third quarter of 2010 should boost sales.

The Smart remained popular in Germany in 2009: deliveries rose by two percent to 32,400 vehicles. The city car was also sold in new markets last yearat the start. In China, 1,800 customers have opted for the two-seater since April, and 1,100 units have been sold in Brazil. The luxury brand Maybach suffered a slump in 2009 a third to just 200 vehicles.

Peugeot sold two percent fewer cars

The French car manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroën did not suffer as much from the crisis in the car market in 2009 as other manufacturers. Worldwide, 2.2 percent fewer cars were sold than in the previous year. The overall market, however, has shrunk by 3.5 percent. The French sold 3.19 million vehicles and, according to their own information, were able to increase their market share in Europe slightly to 13.7 percent. In Europe, sales of Peugeot fell by 3.7 percent. In Germany and France in particular, the scrapping premium supported sales figures - such premiums had been introduced in 13 European countries. Outside of Europe, Peugeot increased its sales by 2.4 percent - which corresponds to around a third of the automaker's total sales.

In China, the car manufacturer even recorded an increase of more than 50 percent. Worldwide, Peugeot expects the first signs of a recovery in the car market in 2010. In Europe, however, the French do not expect an initial improvement until the second half of the year because of the expired scrapping premium. For the year as a whole, Peugeot still sees a single-digit decline in demand for the European car market. The French want to counter this trend with the help of a number of new models.