END OF YEAR - MERCEDES/SMART - The 2015 record sales have been broken again in 2016.

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) closed out 2016 with its highest annual volume in the U.S. market, topping 2015's best ever record. MBUSA today reported December sales of 37,057 vehicles. 

Mercedes-Benz Vans reported December sales with 3,860 units, and smart reported 1,186 units, bringing MBUSA's grand total to 37,057 vehicles for the month. On a year- to-date basis, Mercedes-Benz retails totaled 340,237. 

Adding year-to-date-sales of 34,304 for Vans and 6,211 for smart, MBUSA posted a grand total of 380,752 units in December, increasing 0.1% from the previous year.

"MBUSA maintained a consistent pace throughout the year, which led us to our best sales result ever. In 2016, Mercedes-Benz was the best-selling luxury franchise in the U.S.," said Dietmar Exler, president and CEO of MBUSA. "I want to thank Stuttgart, our dealers and everyone at MBUSA for helping us to have such an incredible year."

Mercedes-Benz volume leaders in December included the C-Class, GLE and E-Class (including the CLS) model lines. The C-Class took the lead at 7,345, followed by the GLE at 5,574. The E-Class rounded out the top three with 4,851 units sold.

Mercedes-AMG high-performance models sold 3,126 units in December, with a total of 23,261 units sold year-to-date (up 33.3%).

Separately, Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned (MBCPO) models recorded sales of 10,981 vehicles in December. On a year-to-date basis, MBCPO sold 123,332 vehicles, an increase of 2.3%.