DAIMLER AG said sales of its Mercedes-Benz brand jumped in September in the strongest sales month in the company’s history, boosted by demand in China.

    Brand sales were up 14 percent from September 2013 to 162,746 vehicles. Group sales, including the company’s Smart brand, were up 12 percent, the company said in a news release.

    “The growth drivers were our compact cars and the S-class,” Mercedes-Benz board member Ola Kaellenius said.

    Since the beginning of the year, Daimler has sold 75,391 S-class sedans, twice as many as in the same period the previous year. Total Mercedes-Benz brand sales for the first nine months of 2014 were up 11 percent to 1.26 million vehicles.

    Brand sales in the United States were up 11 percent in September from a year earlier.

    In China, brand sales jumped 24 percent to 25,244 cars in September, and were up nearly 31 percent in the first nine months of the year.

    On Monday, rival premium car maker Audi said nine-month China sales were up 16 percent.(SD-Agencies)