What's going on?

Global car sales are falling � but on Monday, Daimler-owned Mercedes-Benz reported that Chinese enthusiasm drove its third-quarter sales to their highest ever.

What does this mean?

Mercedes sold 12% more cars last quarter than it did a year earlier, making up for a stuttering start to the year. Records were set in China, where 13% more Mercedes vehicles were sold in the quarter. And September was particularly good, especially in Daimler�s home country: German sales were up 25% from last year. The US brought up Mercedes� rear: rival BMW snatched September�s pole position there by selling 34 more cars.


This time last year, Daimler had warned its profit would be lower than planned thanks to the US-China trade war reducing Chinese demand. Weak sales last year, then, set a low bar for this year�s growth � but for Daimler�s investors, it�s still good news.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Oktoberfest might not be cancelled.

Germany�s currently in a rough patch: new data on Monday showed that German factories� orders continued to decline in August. But Mercedes� update might offer some comfort: the auto industry represents 5% of the German economy, and high German sales growth shows consumers are now happy to spend. If Daimler stays in high gear this quarter, it might accelerate the German economy � and stave off a recession.

For you personally: Watch your back.

Daimler�s employees may breathe a sigh of relief: they�ll probably avoid the fate of General Electric�s (GE�s) workers. Longtime Finimize readers might recall GE�s struggles: once the US�s biggest company, its share price has fallen 73% since January 2017. Its huge debt pile led it to freeze 20,000 of its employees� pension benefits on Monday: they�ll now get paid less in retirement than they expected. It�s a reminder that big companies� woes don�t just hurt investors � its workers often lose out too.