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All-New S-Class Makes Strong Retail Debut: Premium Category Sales Up 50 Percent

2 April 1999

All-New S-Class Makes Strong Retail Debut: Premium Category Sales Up 50 Percent

            First Quarter, and March Sales, On Par With Last Year

    MONTVALE, N.J., April 1 -- Mercedes-Benz reported sales in
the U.S. of 16,054 new vehicles during the month of March 1999, just under the
16,303 vehicles sold in March 1998.  Year-to-date sales are slightly ahead of
last year's record-setting pace with a total of 40,536 vehicles sold during
the first three months of 1999, a .42 percent increase over the 40,365
vehicles sold during the same period last year.
    March sales of the all-new 2000 S-Class (which went on sale March 2) made
a strong debut with 2,403 vehicles sold in its first month.  The S430 recorded
1,883 units and the more powerful S500, 520 units.  "We anticipated an
impressive first month for the launch of our all-new 2000 S-Class and these
numbers are certainly a validation of the S-Class appeal to current and new
customers," said Mike Jackson, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz of North
America.  "We look forward to building upon our S-Class sales momentum
throughout the year."  Sales of the previous generation S-Class totaled 484
(vs. 1,928).
    Sales for the month were led by the award-winning E-Class model line with
sales of 4,183, a slight decrease of 2.8 percent over the 4,303 vehicles sold
during the same month last year.  Sales of the legendary SL coupe/roadster
models posted a slight increase of .13 percent (758 vs. 757) for the month.
Supply-constrained C-Class sales totaled 2,584, down 25 percent (vs. 3,457).
M-Class sales decreased 16.3 percent (3,328 vs. 3,978).  The SLK roadster
finished the month with 1,040 units (vs. 1,149).  The CLK finished the month
with an impressive 1,274 units, up 74.3 percent compared to 731 sold last
March.  The stylish CLK320 coupe came in at 586 units while the CLK430
supercoupe recorded 257 units and CLK320 Cabriolet sold 431 units.
    On a year-to-date basis, the E-Class model line accounted for the largest
volume with sales of 11,296, up 4.6 percent (vs. 10,795).  C-Class sales
declined from 6,659 to 9,425.  S-Class sales increased 31.3 percent to 5,026
(vs. 3,827) while sales of the SL dropped slightly to 1,847 (vs. 1,908).
Year-to-date sales of the SLK increased 12.7 percent to 2,647 (vs. 2,437); the
CLK jumped 127.2 percent to 3,653 (vs. 1,608) and the M-Class sold 9,408 units
(vs. 10,455).