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Mercedes-Benz Reports October Sales

4 November 1997

Mercedes-Benz Shines Still Brighter: Another All-Time Sales Record in October; SL Roadsters Record Highest Sales Month in Seven Years

    MONTVALE, N.J., Nov. 4 -- Mercedes-Benz of North America,
Inc. (MBNA) set another all-time sales record with 15,013 vehicles sold during
October -- an 81.8 percent increase over the 8,259 vehicles sold during the
same month last year.  Year-to-date sales were also at an all-time high with a
total of 94,956 vehicles sold during the first ten months of 1997, a
27.6 percent increase over the 74,391 vehicles sold during the same period in
1996.
    For October, the strongest gain was in the SL roadster model line which
soared 60.1 percent (911 vs. 569), marking the highest monthly sales volume
for the model since the introduction of the current series in 1990.  The
highest volume was in the E-Class which was up 20.6 percent (4,267 vs. 3,537).
The C-Class climbed 28.7 percent over October 1996 (3,257 vs. 2,530).  With
sales of 1,521, the S-Class showed a marginal 6.3 percent decrease versus the
1,623 sold during October of last year.  Sales of the new models were strong
with the SLK reaching 998 vehicles and the CLK recording 247 vehicles.  The
much anticipated ML320 continued its momentum with 3,812 new vehicles recorded
for the month.
     Year-to-date, the E-Class climbed to 35,585 vehicles -- a 15 percent
increase over the 30,938 vehicles sold during the first ten months of 1996;
the C-Class increased by 11 percent (25,979 vs. 23,405); the S-Class showed a
slight decrease of 6.4 percent (13,454 vs. 14,380) and sales of the
SL roadsters were up 18.4 percent (6,709 vs. 5,668).  Year-to-date sales of
the SLK have climbed to 5,546 new vehicles and sales of the CLK have totaled
441.  Since its introduction in mid-September, sales of the M-Class all-
activity vehicle have reached 7,242.
    "With the launch of our four new vehicles in September -- along with the
hundreds of events that took place at local dealerships across the country
during 'Fall in Love' -- and the steady increase in our core model line sales,
we are quite confident that we will bypass our original projection of an all-
time high record of 100,000 vehicles sold during 1997," says Michael
Bassermann, chairman and CEO of MBNA.  "For the first time in our United
States history, sales of Mercedes-Benz vehicles will reach an all-time record
of 115,000 vehicles for the year."

SOURCE  Mercedes-Benz of North America