Pent-up demand in Europe and a high order backlog would carry the company into next year, CFO Harald Wilhelm said, adding it would prioritise bringing down inventory in the fourth quarter. The company forecast a slight increase in fourth-quarter sales from a year earlier. The marked increase in profitability comes after Mercedes-Benz pledged in 2020 — then part of Daimler Group — to cut fixed costs, capital expenditure and research and development spending by more than 20% by 2025.