Mercedes-Benz Delivers 500,000 Units of the New C-Class

STUTTGART, GERMANY – November 21, 2008: Mercedes-Benz has delivered 500,000 new C-Class models from the 204 series to customers around the world since the vehicle’s market launch in March 2007. “The C-Class sedan has maintained its position as the worldwide market leader in its segment since the beginning of the year”, says Dr. Klaus Maier, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing Mercedes-Benz Cars. “Sales of the new station wagon continue to increase as well. In the first year after its market launch sales of the station wagon are 20 percent higher than the figure recorded for the predecessor model during the same period.” Around 440,000 new C-Class sedans have been sold since the model’s market launch, and over 60,000 customers have taken delivery of the station wagon version since that model’s introduction in the fall of 2007.

The most popular engine for the new C-Class is the C 220 CDI, which is the choice of a third of all customers. The same engine has been chosen by almost half of the station wagon model’s customers worldwide. Also popular is the C 200 Kompressor, which is ordered by 20 percent of all C-Class sedan customers.

Mercedes-Benz began taking orders in October for the new generation of four-cylinder diesel engines to be featured in the C 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY Prime Edition. The new engine will be available from December and notwithstanding exceptional performance only consumes an average of 5.2 liters of fuel per 100 km (NEDC). Also this past October, Mercedes-Benz presented its fourth C-Class BlueEFFICIENCY model - the C 350 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY with second-generation gasoline direct injection. This new sedan consumes around 14 percent less fuel than the conventional C 350 model.

The other C-Class BlueEFFICIENCY models are the C 180 KOMPRESSOR and the C 200 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY, both of which consume up to 12 percent less fuel while offering the same high level of comfort that is typical for Mercedes-Benz automobiles. C-Class sedans are produced at Mercedes-Benz plants in Sindelfingen, Bremen, East London and in Beijing. The C-Class station wagon is manufactured exclusively at the Bremen plant. This past summer, the factory in Sindelfingen received the J.D. Power Platinum Award for the best plant quality worldwide. The facility was also recently named “Factory of the Year” in recognition of its outstanding quality management system for C-Class production. The 250,000th C-Class - an iridium silver metallic C 220 CDI sedan - rolled off the assembly line in Sindelfingen just a short time ago and will soon be delivered to a customer in Japan.

The new C-Class is especially popular among customers in Germany, who account for roughly 25 percent of total C-Class sales. The sedan has also maintained its leadership on the German market since the beginning of this year. The second most important market, with an approximately 20 percent share of worldwide sales, is the U.S., which is followed by the UK, Italy, and South Africa.

The clear visual differentiation of the three lines Classic, Elegance and Avantgarde has proved to be very successful: half of the customers in Germany have opted for the Avantgarde line - and this share is even higher in several core markets.