Mercedes-Benz DRIVE YOUR FUTURE Design Awards LA Scholarship Awarded to New Hampshire Student

Program Supports Aspiring Fashion Designers Who Are First Generation in Their Families to Attend College

MONTVALE, N.J., July 11 -- Becoming a successful fashion designer is a lifelong dream for many art and design students; a dream that requires hard work, commitment, passion, an eye for style and some good luck. Today, the Southern California Mercedes-Benz dealers together with Mercedes- Benz USA (MBUSA) helped bring that dream closer for one lucky fashion design student. Bopha Sar of Littleton, New Hampshire was awarded the $20,000 DRIVE YOUR FUTURE Design Awards LA scholarship to attend FIDM/The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles this fall.

A graduate of Littleton High School, Sar competed against other college- bound high school seniors across the country and won the award based on her strong creative portfolio, academic record, leadership and participation in school and community activities.

"I've always wanted to do costume design for movies, so coming to FIDM, in the heart of Hollywood, has been my dream for as long as I can remember," said Bopha Sar, DRIVE YOUR FUTURE Design Awards LA scholarship recipient. "My family has been so supportive of my dreams, but winning this scholarship has given me that extra financial help that will let me pursue them."

In addition to the scholarship, award-winning designer Kevan Hall will mentor Sar. A graduate of FIDM himself, Hall is known for the beauty and simplicity of his designs and counts Charlize Theron, Salma Hayek, Mariah Carey and the stars of "Desperate Housewives" among his clients. Hall partners with Mercedes-Benz as the "Mercedes-Benz Presents" designer for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios.

"When personal vision is matched with opportunity, extraordinary things can happen," said Pat Bolter, President of the Southern California Mercedes- Benz Dealer Association. "This is a great opportunity to lend a hand to the next generation of design students as they pursue their dreams. We hope that our Design Awards LA scholarship winner will one day receive the same acclaim as Kevan Hall."

The new DRIVE YOUR FUTURE Design Awards LA scholarship was also partially funded through proceeds from a silent auction which included one-of-a-kind Fender guitars personally decorated by Hollywood's hottest stars including music and fashion icon Gwen Stefani, famed rocker Slash, supermodel Carolyn Murphy, pop star Mya and world champion skater Tony Hawk.

DRIVE YOUR FUTURE Design Awards LA is a new extension of the national Mercedes-Benz DRIVE YOUR FUTURE Scholarship Program which supports students who are the first in their families to pursue a college education. Specific information about the scholarship is available on FIDM's website, http://www.fidm.edu/designawardsla . DRIVE YOUR FUTURE Design Awards LA is part of Mercedes-Benz's ongoing effort to support education and create opportunities for young people by helping students clear some of the hurdles to higher education. Overall, the 2006 national DRIVE YOUR FUTURE program provides over $1.5 million in scholarship funding to students in need.

Mercedes-Benz USA

Headquartered in Montvale, N.J., MBUSA is responsible for the sales, marketing and service of all Mercedes-Benz and Maybach products in the United States. Through its philanthropic program, MBUSA focuses on educating and empowering future generations, particularly those who are underserved. The company views education as an opportunity to ensure that as many of today's youth as possible are given the tools, guidance and support they need to reach their full potential. More information on MBUSA and its products can be found on the Internet at http://www.mbusa.com/ and http://www.maybachusa.com/ .

FIDM/The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising

FIDM/The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising is a private college for specialized professional education accredited by WASC and NASAD granting Associate of Arts and Bachelor of Science Business degrees. Over the last 30 years, FIDM has graduated more than 30,000 students and prepared them for careers in Fashion, Graphics, Interior Design and Entertainment. The school is headquartered in its own 180,000 square foot state-of-the-art campus in downtown Los Angeles, and has other campus locations in Orange County, San Diego and San Francisco with a student body of 5,000 full-time students. Notable graduates include: Kevan Hall, Magda Berliner, Monique Lhuillier, Karen Kane, Pamela Skaist-Levy, Designer/Owner of Juicy Couture, Randolph Duke, Marina Spadafora, Daniel France, Tom Mark, David Cardona, Estevan Ramos, Ha Nguyen (Adventures of Pluto Nash, Swordfish, The Nutty Professor), Marlene Stewart (Ali, The X-Files), Jill Ohanneson (Six Feet Under, The Pledge, Mouse Hunt) and Mona May (Clueless, The new ... Stuart Little, The Master of Disguise, The Haunted Mansion). FIDM also houses one of the nation's finest costume collections dating from the 18th century, as well as ethnic costumes and special selections from international designers from the past and present.