KECSKEMET, Hungary - Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz Cars premium auto division expects year-on-year sales growth to resume soon, the division's chief operating officer told Reuters on Friday.

If you watched previous months you may have recognised that our delta to last year has been diminishing so I would certainly see that tendency continuing on that side, Rainer Schmueckle said when asked how car sales were going in October versus September.

Certainly we will minimise that delta to last year and I do not think it's going to be a long time until we see positive deltas to the previous year, he said on the sidelines on an event to break ground for a Mercedes plant in Hungary.

I do believe the sales have bottomed out already. (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs, Writing by Michael Shields)

Daimler AG