Mercedes-Benz beat Audi in China sales last month on demand for its longer C- and E-class sedans.
Mercedes’s January deliveries rose 4.8 percent from a year earlier to 71,697, with long-wheelbase versions of the C- and E-class sedans both posting double-digit sales growth.
It was the first time the brand’s monthly sales topped 70,000.
Audi, which remained China’s largest luxury brand by annual sales last year, delivered roughly 64,000 vehicles last month, an increase of 5.1 percent year on year, according to Volkswagen Group.
Rival BMW has not released China sales for January.
In 2018, Audi and Mercedes each reported 11 percent sales increases in China. Audi deliveries exceeded 663,000 while Mercedes sales reached 652,996.
BMW delivered 639,953 vehicles in 2018 under the BMW and Mini brands in China, a rise of 7.7 percent from 2017, BMW Group said, without divulging separate sales for the BMW brand.
