Michael Slagter Appointed to Vice President of Sales for Mercedes-Benz USA

MONTVALE, N.J., April 2 -- Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) today announced the appointment of Michael Slagter to the position of vice president of sales, effective April 1, 2007, reporting directly to MBUSA President and CEO Ernst Lieb. In his new position, Slagter will have overall responsibility for sales, volume planning and distribution operations for Mercedes-Benz in the United States. Slagter replaces Mark McNabb who left the company to pursue other interests.

Previously, Slagter was responsible for MBUSA's sales operations for the western portion of the United States as vice president of sales, west, based out of the company's regional office in Los Angeles where he was responsible for all sales, service, marketing and operations for the company's western region.

A 31-year veteran of the automotive industry, Slagter worked with the Lexus brand for 11 years, initially as regional general manager for their western region. He was then appointed corporate marketing manager directing all Lexus Division marketing activities, and later served as corporate sales and dealer development manager supervising all Lexus Division national sales, distribution, dealer placement and pre-owned activities. He also held management positions with Lexus at retail and on the agency side, the latter as retail division director at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising in Torrance, CA, where he oversaw all Toyota Dealer Association advertising and sales operations for the U.S. market.

Prior to joining Lexus, Slagter worked for the Ford Motor Company for 14 years.

Originally from Evansville, Indiana, Slagter holds a master of business administration degree from the University of Evansville and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Indiana University.

Mercedes-Benz USA, headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey, is responsible for the sales, marketing and service of all Mercedes-Benz and Maybach products in the United States. In 2006, MBUSA achieved an all-time sales record of 248,080 new vehicles, setting the highest sales volume ever in its history and achieving 13 consecutive years of sales growth.