Asia drives surge in Merc sales

Berlin - German luxury carmaker Mercede-Benz reported a surge in first-quarter sales on Friday thanks to a boom in premium vehicles across Asia.

Mercedes-Benz car deliveries jumped by 15.2% in the three months ended March compared to the same period last year, the carmaker said.

This brought total sales since January to 374 276.

"We have posted double-digit growth rates for sales in every month since the beginning of the year," said Mercedes sales and marketing chief Ola Kaellenius.

While first-quarter sales in Europe rose 7.5%, deliveries to the Asian-Pacific region raced ahead by 41.7%.

This reflected a 50.3% gain in Japan and a 47.6% rise in China - the world's biggest car market.

Sales for Mercedes in the United States, which is part of the Daimler group, rose 5%.