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Mercedes Maintains Momentum: All-Time Record January Sales

3 February 1999

Mercedes Maintains Momentum: All-Time Record January Sales; 12,225 Vehicles Jump Start 1999 Sales, S-Class Sales Surge 13.5 Percent

    MONTVALE, N.J., Feb. 2 -- Mercedes-Benz of North America,
Inc. (MBNA) reported sales of 12,225 new vehicles during the month of January
1999, a 4.3 percent increase over the 11,720 vehicles sold in January 1998.
This represents the highest January sales volume ever recorded by MBNA and its
retail partners across America.
    "While 1998 represented the highest U.S. sales in our history, we
anticipate that 1999 will be even stronger," said Mike Jackson, president and
CEO of MBNA.  "But more importantly," he continued, "we will strive to
sustain, and build, upon our continued success."
    Sales for the month were led by the award-winning E-Class model line with
sales of 3,643, an increase of 16.7 percent over the 3,123 vehicles sold
during the same month last year.
    The company's flagship S-Class/CL coupes -- in their final runout before
the launch of the all-new successor model -- showed a significant increase of
13.5 percent (1,255 vs. 1,106).  Sales of the legendary SL coupe/roadster
models posted a slight decrease of 4.8 percent (538 vs. 565) for the month.
Supply-constrained C-Class sales totaled 1,817, down 40.4 percent (vs. 3,048).
    The award-winning M-Class also contributed to the record-setting January
performance with 2,854 vehicles sold (vs. 2,881 for 1998).  The ML320 posted
sales of 1,805 and the new-for-1999 ML430 registered 1,049 units.  The SLK
roadster continued to climb, up 35.8 percent to 770 (vs. 567 for 1998).  The
CLK finished the month with an impressive 1,348 units, compared to 430 during,
last January.  The stylish CLK320 coupe came in at 264 units.  The CLK430
supercoupe and CLK320 Cabriolet sold 511 and 573 units, respectively.