Mercedes sells 1,500 vehicles in Q1

JAKARTA: PT Mercedes-Benz Indonesia (MBI), the local subsidiary of German-based automaker Mercedes-Benz, says it sold about 1,500 vehicles in the first quarter.

MBI president director Rudi Borgenheimer said on Tuesday the figure was comprised of 1,000 passenger cars, 300 buses and 200 heavy duty trucks.

“However, sales in the second quarter may be slower than the first quarter because we can’t provide more as customer demands have exceeded our expectations,” he said on the sidelines of a launch of the Mercedes Benz ML 300 in Jakarta, adding the company might only sell 250 buses and 150 trucks in the second quarter.

The company aims to sell 75 units of the premium Mercedes Benz ML 300 SUV, equal to about 30 percent of the premium SUV market in Indonesia.

Earlier this year, the firm said it targeted sales of 6,100 passenger and commercial vehicles in 2011, up 29 percent from 4,730 in 2010. — JP