1Q sales of Mercedes cars fall 2.8 pct

DaimlerChrysler AG said Wednesday that first-quarter sales in its Mercedes Car Group fell 2.8 percent from a year ago as orders dipped slightly.

The German-American automaker, which confirmed it is in talks about selling its Chrysler unit, said it sold 286,800 Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and Smart vehicles worldwide in the first three months of the year, dragged down by lower sales in Germany and western Europe.

However demand from U.S. buyers pushed up North American sales 9.2 percent from a year ago with 56,000 vehicles sold, led by the new E-Class and the four-door CLS-Class coupe.

Sales in Asia rose 1.3 percent to 34,700 cars sold.

Sales of the company's Smart brand fell by more than 57 percent to 12,400 sold.

Shares of DaimlerChrysler were down nearly 1 percent to 61.06 euros ($81.56) in Frankfurt trading.

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