Mercedes-Benz USA Records Sales of 14,890 for February Year-to-Date Sales Up 7.5 Percent

MONTVALE, N.J., March 1 -- Mercedes-Benz USA, Inc. reported sales of 14,890 new vehicles during the month of February 2002, bringing the total year-to-date sales to 29,988, a 7.5 percent increase over the 27,907 vehicles sold during the first two months of 2001.

Paul Halata, president and CEO of MBUSA said, ``Our year-to-date sales are up and we intend to keep that momentum going with several new product launches, including our all-new SL500 roadster going on sale today.''

Sales for the month were led by the C-Class which achieved its best February on record with 4,768 units sold, a 24.5 percent increase over February 2001. Year-to-date sales for the C-Class are up 50.6 percent.

Following the C-Class, volume was led by the E-Class and M-Class which posted sales of 3,121 and 2,831 units respectively for the month with E-Class sales surpassing last year's. The SL-Class also showed strong gains with a 25.2 percent increase in sales for February. Year-to-date, coupe and convertible sales jumped with a 9.7 percent increase for the CLK-Class and a 9.9 percent increase for the CL-Class.

Separately, through its Starmark pre-owned vehicle program, MBUSA recorded sales of 3,348, an increase of 24.2 percent compared to February 2001, representing the best February in Starmark history. On a year-to-date basis, Starmark sales increased 29.2 percent.

    FEBRUARY 2002 SALES CHART

    Model           Feb.'02   Feb.'01  Monthly%  YTD 2002  YTD 2001 Yearly%

    C-CLASS TOTAL      4,768   3,831     24.5%     9,302   6,176    50.6%

    E-CLASS TOTAL      3,121   3,014      3.6%     6,294   5,900     6.7%

    S-CLASS TOTAL      1,430   2,196    -34.9%     2,686   4,028   -33.3%

    CL TOTAL             238     351    -32.2%       543     494     9.9%

    SL TOTAL             273     218     25.2%       484     461     5.0%

    CLK TOTAL          1,484   1,592     -6.8%     3,251   2,963     9.7%

    SLK TOTAL            564     723    -22.0%     1,054   1,315   -19.8%

    M-CLASS TOTAL      2,831   3,292    -14.0%     6,006   6,570    -8.6%

    G-CLASS              181    n/a       n/a        368    n/a       n/a

    GRAND TOTAL       14,890  15,217     -2.1%    29,988  27,907     7.5%