Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Sdn Bhd (MBM) expects the second half (2H) of 2017 to remain positive and is optimistic of being on track for yet another record year.

MBM President/Chief Executive Officer, Dr Claus Weidner, said MBM rounded up the first half (1H) of 2017 with a solid performance across-the-board, with sales of 5,913 units, driven by strong demand for the locally-produced Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

He said the company was optimistic the sales in 2017 would surpass last year's record of 11,779 cars.

"We ended 1H with a new best ever month in June, further extending our lead in the premium segment with market share of 2.3 per cent," he said.

MBM Sales and Marketing Vice-President, Mark Raine, said the Mercedes-Benz C-Class model topped the 1H sales list with 2,075 units sold, closely followed by the E-Class (1,358 units), the SUVs (1,233 units), Compact Cars (739 units) and S-Class (230 units), while 268 units of the Mercedes-Benz Dream Cars were sold.

The company had launched three models during 1H – complete knock-down (CKD) E-Class, the GLA facelift and the latest AMG 43 line-up.

The much-awaited final launch for this year would be the locally-assembled E-Class 'plug-in-hybrid', slated for the third quarter, and is expected to be the main driver for MBM's race to achieve another record year in 2017.

To-date, MBM has 31 dealerships nationwide and is the leading car financier in the country with over RM2 billion service portfolio, financing four out of 10 Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold.