Highest May On Record For Mercedes-Benz With Sales Of 22,515

smart up 43%, Sprinter up 43.7% For the Month; Total MBUSA at 25,259 -- up 24.4%

MONTVALE, NJ--June 1, 2012: Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) today reported May sales of 22,515 for its Mercedes-Benz models, a 19.2 % improvement over May 2011, delivering a year-to-date total of 106,364 new vehicles to customers, up 17.8%. Combined sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles, smart and Sprinter for the month totaled 25,259, up 24.4% bringing a year-to-date total of 117,231, up 22.8 %, making this the company's highest May on record.

Sales for the month of May were led by the C-, E- and M-Class model lines. The sporty C-Class -- the gateway to the Mercedes-Benz brand on the car side for younger and first-time Mercedes-Benz buyers -- took the lead with sales of 6,649, up 34.7% and the 9th generation E-Class followed with sales of 5,576. MBUSA's top-selling SUV, the M-Class, rounded out the top three with sales of 3,198, up 65.9% compared to May 2011. Other strong performers were the company's popular new CLS four-door coupe which at 743 saw sales growth of 1,855.3% and the all-new SLK roadster which increased 542.9% over May 2011 with sales of 405. Also, the all-new iconic sixth generation 2013 SL roadster, debuting in showrooms this month, posted sales of 709, an increase of 458.3%, and the SLS AMG supercar retailed 83 for the month, up 295.2% over the same period last year.

On a year-to-date basis, top performers again were the C-Class with 31,180, the E-Class with 24,777 and the M-Class with 17,735.

Monthly sales of the high-performance AMG models were 615, up 109.2% versus May 2011 (294) and up 68.7% year to date. Sales of the company's BlueTEC diesel models were up 62.3% for the year at 7,662 compared to the 4,772 diesels sold over the same time last year.

The company's smart brand continued seven consecutive months of sales increases with May sales of 703 vehicles, a 43% jump for the month (compared to the 492 vehicles sold in May 2011), bringing the year-to-date volume to 3,731, up 68%.

On the van side, sales of Sprinter Vans also saw best-ever sales in May with 2,041 vans to new customers -- up 43.7% over last year and up 37.7% on a year-to-date basis.

Separately, through the Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned (MBCPO) program, MBUSA sold 6,534 vehicles in May; a decrease of 4.1% when compared to May 2011 (sales of 6,816 vehicles). On a year-to-date basis, MBCPO sold 32,826 vehicles, a decrease of 1.9% over the comparable period (with sales of 33,445 vehicles).