Mercedes-Benz USA Records All-Time Best October

MBUSA Year-to-Date Sales Up 3.6 Percent to 178,720 Vehicles

MONTVALE, N.J., Nov. 3 -- Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) reported its best October on record with sales of 19,273 new vehicles, breaking the record of 18,871 set in October 2002. Year-to-date sales also hit an all-time record with 178,720 units sold, an increase of 3.6 percent over last year.

"Continuous new product offerings and enhancements -- 4MATIC available on all sedans and wagons, including the benchmark S-Class, AMG offerings across all model lines, all-new E-Class wagon, all-new CLK-Cabriolet -- are driving sales and excitement to our dealerships. We expect this momentum to continue throughout the year," said Keith May, vice president of sales for MBUSA.

The C-Class model line led sales volume for the month with 5,250 units sold, up 11.3 percent vs. October 2002. Significant sales gains for the month were also achieved by the all-new CLK coupes and cabriolets with an increase of 18.4 percent. The S-Class high-end sedans and SL-Class roadsters saw gains of 38.3 percent and 25.7 percent respectively.

On a year-to-date basis, the C-Class model line was the volume leader with 55,796 new C-Class models sold, a 3.9 percent increase over the same period last year. Boosted by the newest generation E-Class, the highly acclaimed model line posted an increase of 42.7 percent. The S-Class also gained in sales volume by 13.2 percent year-to-date, as did the CLK-Class model line which posted an increase of 8.3 percent. AMG products across the model lines posted a year-to-date increase of 80.1 percent (9,091 vs. 5,048 units).

Separately, through its Starmark pre-owned vehicle program, MBUSA recorded sales of 4,543, an increase of 20.8 percent over last October. On a year-to-date basis, Starmark sales increased 22.3 percent to 44,094 units sold.

                            MERCEDES-BENZ USA
                           Sales - October 2003

                                          Monthly
  Model                   Oct '03 Oct '02    %    YTD 2003 YTD 2002 Yearly %

  C-CLASS                   5,250   4,716   11.3%   55,796   53,714    3.9%

  E-CLASS                   5,190   5,265   -1.4%   44,227   30,971   42.8%

  S-CLASS                   2,576   1,863   38.3%   18,557   16,397   13.2%

  CL-CLASS                    261     312  -16.3%    2,858    3,167   -9.8%

  SL-CLASS                  1,503   1,196   25.7%   10,394   11,241   -7.5%

  CLK-CLASS                 1,747   1,475   18.4%   15,976   14,754    8.3%

  SLK-CLASS                   447     501  -10.8%    5,310    6,950  -23.6%

  M-CLASS                   2,111   3,331  -36.6%   24,053   32,774  -26.6%

  G-CLASS                     188     212  -11.3%    1,549    2,595  -40.3%

  GRAND TOTAL              19,273  18,871    2.1%  178,720  172,563    3.6%