Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche has praised Mercedes-Benz's performance in 2011 as its best ever.

Vehicle sales rose 11% to 2.11 million, with Daimler saying that Mercedes had never performed better than in 2011.

"We achieved our best-ever results in 2011 for unit sales, revenue... and net profit. All of our divisions contributed to this success," said Zetsche.

Daimler said that it expected sales to "increase again significantly this year and that revenue will also continue to grow," driven by emerging markets, reports the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16960143