Daimler AG says sales of its core Mercedes-Benz brand cars were up 13.6 per cent in year-on-year terms last month — with China leading the way and Germany performing well.

Daimler said Friday that deliveries of cars with the Mercedes star on the hood totalled 100,500 in October.

Chinese sales more than doubled to 13,500. German sales increased by 14 per cent to 27,000.

U.S. sales edged up to 18,400 — a rise of about one per cent compared with a year earlier, when sales were already recovering from the economic crisis.

Mercedes-Benz's global sales for the year's first 10 months totalled 954,400 — a 15.5 per cent rise.

Daimler said sales of Smart ultra-compact cars were down 15.4 per cent to 7,900 last month. It pointed to strong declines in that market segment.