FRANKFURT: Daimler's Mercedes-Benz division increased deliveries of its luxury branded vehicles by 20 percent in January to 150,814, buoyed by a 63 percent rise in sales of sports utility vehicles and a 52 percent jump in deliveries in China.

For Mercedes it amounts to the 35th consecutive month of increased sales with sales up 15.2 percent in Europe, 37.1 percent in Asia-Pacific, and almost flat growth in the United States, the company said.