Mercedes-Benz Cars 2014 sales up 11.4 percent to 1.74 million vehicles

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler , maker of Mercedes-Benz and Smart-branded cars, said deliveries rose 11.4 percent in 2014, to a record 1,739,854 cars, thanks to a 30 percent sales jump in China and 25 percent higher registrations of Mercedes compact cars. For Mercedes, it marks the fourth year of record sales in a row, thanks to demand for its expanded range of compact cars including the CLA coupe, the GLA compact sports utility vehicle, as well as the new C-Class and S-Class limousines. The Mercedes-Benz brand posted record deliveries in every month of 2014, the company said. Sales of its compact vehicle range grew by 25 percent to 463,152 vehicles of the A-, B-, CLA- and GLA-Class. Sales of Smart-branded cars fell 11 percent as an old model was phased out. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; editing by Thomas Atkins)