It is the first time Mercedes sold more than two million vehicles in a year, allowing it to reclaim the top spot it lost to its Munich rival in 2005.

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German carmaker Mercedes-Benz on Monday said it had overtaken homegrown rival BMW to deliver the most luxury vehicles of any manufacturer in 2016.

The Stuttgart-based firm sold almost 2.1 million vehicles worldwide, marking growth of 11.3 percent compared with 2015, parent company Daimler said in a statement.

It was the first time Mercedes sold more than two million vehicles in a year, allowing it to reclaim the top spot it lost to its Munich rival in 2005.

China was a powerful growth market, with Mercedes boosting sales there by 26.6 percent over the year. While the group also saw double-digit sales growth in Europe, adding 12.4 percent, US business shrank slightly by 0.8 percent.


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Mercedes-Benz A 200 AMG


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Mercedes-AMG A45 4MATIC


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Mercedes-Benz E 200 Avantgarde


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Ning Baizura at the launch of the Mercedes-Benz C 300 AMG


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Mercedes-Benz C 200 Coupe


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Mercedes-Benz C 250 Coupe and David Coulthard


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Mercedes-Benz C 350e plug-in hybrid


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Mercedes-Benz C 350e plug-in hybrid


Daimler also reported best-ever sales for its Smart compact car, which added 21 percent compared with 2015 to hit 144,500 vehicles sold worldwide.

BMW is set to release its figures for the full year 2016 later on Monday.

But data issued in December showed that in the first 11 months of the year, the Munich-based manufacturer sold just over 1.8 million vehicles -- 5.6 percent higher than in 2015, but well short of Mercedes' full-year total.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen's luxury brand Audi reported on Monday that it had sold 1.87 million vehicles in 2016, up 3.8 percent on the previous year but likely relegating it to third place.

Mercedes-Benz is already looking to an explosive 2017 with the impending release of the record-setting Mercedes-AMG GT-R.