Mercedes Benz Sales Break 2001's Best Ever Year-to-Date Record 117,864 Vehicles Sold in U.S.

MONTVALE, N.J., Aug. 1 -- Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) reported sales of 14,937 new vehicles for July 2002, bringing the year-to-date total to 117,864, 1.3 percent ahead of the same period last year. The year-to-date total set a new record for the first seven months of MBUSA sales.

August marks the start of yet another product offensive from Mercedes-Benz starting with the new generation E-Class and CLK models which will begin arriving in showrooms later this month. The company expects the new models to provide strong momentum for the remainder of the year and propel the company to another record-breaking finish.

The sales volume leader for July was the C-Class family of sedans, wagons and coupes with 5,232 units sold, accelerating the model line's volume by 52.5 percent over the 3,430 units sold in July 2001 and marking the best July on record for the C-Class. The model line was also the volume leader for year- to-date sales with 38,089 new C-Class models sold, a 46.6 percent increase over the first seven months of 2001 and another C-Class milestone.

Other highlights for the month included major sales gains for the high-end model lines. The CL-Class jumped 46.9 percent for July (332 versus 226 units) and 14.8 percent for year-to-date (2,354 versus 2,050 units). With a boost from the new fifth-generation roadster, the SL-Class posted a 78.5 percent increase for the month and well over twice its year-to-date volume versus the same period last year. Sales of the company's high-end models -- CL, SL and S-Class -- as a group were up 12 percent.

Separately, through its Starmark pre-owned vehicle program, MBUSA recorded sales of 3,529, an increase of 13.5 percent over last July. On a year-to-date basis, Starmark sales increased 17.2 percent to 25,262 units sold.

                                 July      July  Monthly   YTD      YTD     Yearly
    Model                   '02       '01     %       2002     2001      %

    C-CLASS TOTAL          5,232     3,430   52.5%   38,089   25,980    46.6%

    E-CLASS TOTAL          1,577     3,720  -57.6%   18,140   27,141   -33.2%

    S-CLASS TOTAL          1,438     1,935  -25.7%   11,426   14,705   -22.3%

    CL TOTAL                 332       226   46.9%    2,354    2,050    14.8%

    SL TOTAL                 782       438   78.5%    8,198    2,953   177.6%

    CLK TOTAL              1,244     1,384  -10.1%   10,106   10,268    -1.6%

    SLK TOTAL                715     1,152  -37.9%    5,196    7,005   -25.8%

    M-CLASS TOTAL          3,356     3,870  -13.3%   22,454   26,269   -14.5%

    G-CLASS                  261       n/a     n/a   1,901      n/a       n/a

    GRAND TOTAL           14,937    16,155   -7.5%  117,864  116,371     1.3%