German car maker Daimler AG said vehicle sales of its Mercedes and Smart brands rose 8 percent to 146,112 in October, boosted by a strong demand for the cars in China.

The division's sales volume grew by 33 percent in China and 10 percent in Europe, while dropping 5 percent in the United States.

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Daimler has reported earlier in the year that the Chinese market was the biggest driver of their growth. This was cited as one of the reasons for the company's decision to set up a research and development center in Beijing, tasked with further tuning the Mercedes Benz brand to wealthy Chinese tastes.

The automaker also plans to expand the number of engineers and other specialists in Beijing to 500 by the end of next year from 350.

Ola Kaellenius, Mercedes marketing and sales boss, said overall, the new C-class wagon and the S-class coupe have proved popular among customers.

"We started the fourth quarter with a sales record in October," he said in the statement.

Researcher LMC Automotive projects Mercedes-Benz to sell 291,000 vehicles in China this year, compared with 581,000 for luxury market-leader Audi and 448,000 for second-placed BMW.

Hubertus Troska, Daimler's China head, told Reuters that new models such as the GLA compact SUV should help Mercedes-Benz sell "significantly more than 300,000 units next year." LMC Automotive predicts Mercedes-Benz's 2015 sales at 386,000 vehicles.

Worldwide, the division's 10-month sales are up 11 percent to 1.41 million, also a record. Mercedes brand's volume increased by 12 percent to a 1.34 million. Smart sales fell 13 percent to 72,041.

Tagsmercedes benz, Daimler China