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Mercedes-Benz to Move U.S. Corporate Headquarters to New York

1 October 1997

Mercedes-Benz of North America to Relocate and Build New U.S. Corporate Headquarters In New York

    MONTVALE, N.J., Oct. 1 -- Mercedes-Benz of North America,
Inc. (MBNA) today announced that it will build a new facility on a 91-acre
"green-field" site in Pearl River, N.Y. -- in the Town of Orangetown, Rockland
County -- to house the U.S. corporate headquarters of Mercedes-Benz of North
America, which is currently located in Montvale, N.J.  The new headquarters
will represent an investment of approximately $50 million.
    The decision comes at the end of a thorough project to determine whether
to reconfigure the company's existing Montvale facilities headquarters or to
relocate to a new site.
    According to Michael Bassermann, chairman and CEO for MBNA, "We are in the
midst of phenomenal growth here in the United States with more new products
and higher sales volumes than ever before in our history.  Not surprisingly,
we have outgrown our existing headquarters."
    MBNA identified two key criteria as the foundation for its decision on the
new headquarters:  the location would have to enable the company to
consolidate as much of its headquarters functions as possible (currently split
among three buildings) under one roof and, if a new site was to be considered,
it would have to be within a 10-mile radius of the existing location to
minimize any impact on the company's existing employee base.
    "The decision was a very difficult one; Montvale has been home to MBNA for
nearly 25 years but now, with a new set of needs and requirements, we find
that the site in Pearl River more closely matches what we need to accelerate
into the future," said Bassermann.
    The 91-acre Pearl River site is located on Veterans Memorial Drive in the
Town of Orangetown, Rockland County.  MBNA plans to start construction of a
single-user, three-story, approximately 400,000 square-foot facility in the
spring of 1998 and expects to be operational at the new location by the fall
of 1999.
    According to Bassermann, "The new headquarters will be contemporary,
cost-efficient and will convey an image commensurate with our dynamic brand
and quality products.  It will be flexible, distinctive, elegant and
functional -- and will embody a 'fun-to-work' environment.  Warmth,
approachability, friendliness and a timeless character are design elements
that will be incorporated and the building will be efficient and compatible
with its natural surroundings."
    MBNA's new headquarters will centralize the company's sales, marketing,
distribution, service and parts functions.  Currently the company owns three
buildings on 37 acres in Montvale, N.J.:  the main building at One Mercedes
handles marketing and communications, product management, logistics, finance
and administrative functions; training facilities, management information
systems and corporate services at Three Mercedes Drive and a Customer
Assistance Center and warranty inspection at One Glenview.  MBNA plans to
continue to occupy a small portion of the Three Mercedes building for its
training activities.  The company will also continue to operate its metro-area
regional sales office from Parsippany, N.J.
    Mercedes-Benz has a headquarters work force of roughly 750 and average
annual revenue of $4 billion.  Its model line, sold through 320 Mercedes-Benz
dealers in the U.S., includes the mid-size C-Class sports sedan, E-Class
sedans and wagons, new CLK coupe, SLK roadster, flagship S-Class sedans and CL
coupes, the renowned SL coupe/roadsters and the new ML320, the first Mercedes
entry into the sport utility vehicle market.
    Mercedes-Benz sold 90,844 vehicles in the United States during 1996, an
18 percent increase over the previous year.  The company plans to break
100,000 in annual sales volume this year for the first time in its history and
to continue this momentum through the end of the century.

SOURCE  Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc.