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June Sales of 16,417 Reflect More Records for Mercedes-Benz USA

2 July 1999

June Sales of 16,417 Reflect More Records for Mercedes-Benz USA; Best June Ever for MBUSA; Best Six Months on Record for Company

    MONTVALE, N.J., July 2 -- Mercedes-Benz USA, Inc. continues
its record-setting sales momentum with 16,417 new vehicles sold during the
month of June -- an 8.5 percent increase over the 15,134 vehicles sold in June
1998.  June sales reflect the best June ever on record and third best month
ever -- preceded by May 1999 and October 1998 -- in the company's history.
MBUSA also recorded the best year-to-date sales ever with a total of
89,796 vehicles sold during the first six months of 1999, a 2.7 percent
increase over the 87,464 vehicles sold during the same period last year.
    Sales for June were led by the E-Class, which continues its longtime role
as MBUSA's volume-leading model line with sales of 4,298, an increase of
2.7 percent over the 4,186 vehicles sold in June 1998.  M-Class recorded sales
of 3,240 vehicles (vs. 4,098).
    The S-Class, MBUSA's flagship model line, continues to exhibit strong
momentum following the launch of the all-new MY 2000 sedan in March of this
year with sales of 2,974, an increase of 113.6 percent over the 1,392 vehicles
sold in June of last year.
    C-Class sales totaled 2,746, down 13.6 percent (vs. 3,179).  The legendary
SL coupe/roadster recorded a 5.3 percent increase with sales of 717 (vs. 681)
for the month.  The ever-popular CLK coupes and cabriolet posted a
108.9 percent gain, representing the best June ever with sales of 1,335 versus
639 last June.
    The SLK roadster recorded sales of 1,107 vehicles, representing the best
June ever and an increase of 15.4 percent versus 959 last June.
    On a year-to-date basis, the strongest gain was recorded by the CLK, which
jumped 111.7 percent to 7,576 (vs. 3,579).  The S-Class model line also posted
the best six-month performance with an increase of 49.1 percent (12,526 vs.
8,403).  Sales of the SLK increased 12.9 percent to 6,072 (vs. 5,380) while
E-Class sales increased 5.3 percent to 25,001 (vs. 23,740).  Year-to-date
totals through June of the E-Class, S-Class, CLK and SLK represent the best
sales on record.
    Temporarily trailing last year on a year-to-date basis were the C-Class
(15,196 versus 19,623), the M-Class (19,304 vs. 22,564), and the SL
(4,121 vs. 4,175).