Mercedes-Benz April sales up 10.8 percent to 164,063 cars

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler said Mercedes-Benz delivered 164,063 vehicles worldwide in April, an increase of 10.8 percent compared with the same month last year, thanks to a 31.6 percent jump in sales in China where demand for the C-Class remains strong. "We have grown now for 38 months in succession and with five market launches we had a good start to the second quarter," Ola Kaellenius, head of Marketing & Sales at Mercedes-Benz, said. Mercedes launched a new version of its E-Class and has launched a range of convertibles, including the SL, SLC and S-Class Cabriolet models, providing further growth momentum, the company said. In Europe, sales grew 14.2 percent, thanks to an 11 percent jump in demand in Germany. In the Asia-Pacific region, sales increased by 17.2 percent, driven by China. Sales in the United Sates rose only 0.2 percent, the company said. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Christoph Steitz)