Mercedes says strong demand in China, U.S. creates backlog of orders
Mercedes-Benz buyers face delivery delays of up to three months as the automaker and its suppliers struggle to keep up with strong demand from China and the United States, said Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Mercedes parent Daimler AG.
Zetsche said that customers planning to order a Mercedes C-class, for instance, would have to wait months to take delivery.
"It can take up to a quarter of a year," Zetsche told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
"We are facing a luxury problem: How do we get all the parts we need in time," Zetsche was quoted as saying in the interview published on Sunday.
Daimler in October raised its full-year operating profit outlook to above 7 billion euros (61 billion yuan) -- a target Zetsche said was still valid -- helped by a recovery in car markets and a strong pick-up in emerging economies such as China.
