Mercedes-Benz gallops into China's auto future

Daimler AG and China's BAIC Group runs a sales joint venture that will have 500 dealerships by the end of this year to market both locally made and imported Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The two partners also have a manufacturing tie-up for the premium brand.

Troska said the premium segment will continue to grow more strongly than the average passenger vehicle market in China, despite a slowdown this year.

Overall passenger vehicle sales in China rose by 5.5 percent in the first eight months of this year while the premium segment grew 8 percent, market data shows.

The Mercedes-Benz customer base in China is its youngest in the world with an average age of 35, 20 years younger than in Germany, Troska said.

"Our young customer group in China is very Internet, very connectivity-driven and very dynamic. It's super impressive ... With new models, we are becoming more attractive to them," he said.

At the Frankfurt motor show, Mercedes-Benz is displaying five world-premiere models, including the Concept Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile (IAA), the new C-Class Coupe and the new S-Class Cabriolet.

Calling the Concept IAA the "Digital Transformer", Mercedes-Benz said the car shows how advanced Mercedes-Benz already is in the digitalization of automotive development and production.

"The Concept IAA shows that the real and the virtual world are merging more and more at Mercedes-Benz," Zetsche said.