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Martin Named General Manager, Corporate Communications for Mercedes-Benz USA    

2 August 1999

Martin Named General Manager, Corporate Communications for Mercedes-Benz USA    

    MONTVALE, N.J., Aug. 2 -- Mercedes-Benz USA, Inc. (MBUSA)
today announced the appointment of Elke P. Martin to general manager,
corporate communications at the company's Montvale, N.J. headquarters,
effective August 13.  She will be responsible for corporate communications
strategies and initiatives for the company's U.S. operations, including media,
public, product and corporate publicity and events as well as internal
communications.  She replaces Steven Rossi who was named vice president of
global product communications for DaimlerChrysler in Auburn Hills, Mich.
    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990802/NYM115 )
    Reporting directly to Mike Jackson, president and CEO for MBUSA, Martin
will be part of the MBUSA senior management group.  She will also serve as
liaison with the communications teams in the Stuttgart, Germany and Auburn
Hills headquarters for DaimlerChrysler.
    For the past seven years, Martin has been with Saab -- part of the General
Motors sphere of companies (Saab is co-owned by Investor AB) -- where she was
responsible for the Swedish automaker's U.S. communications.  Her most recent
position was director, corporate communications and promotions at Saab Cars
USA, Inc. headquartered in Atlanta, Ga.  She also served on the company's
senior management strategy development team, and liaisoned extensively with
Saab's parent company, Saab Automobile AB, Trollhattan, Sweden and key Saab
international markets.  Martin has also held public relations and marketing
communications positions at the American Automobile Association affiliate, New
Haven, Conn., as well as editorial positions at Petersen Publishing Company,
Los Angeles, Calif.
    Martin holds a B.A. in Communications from Alma College in Michigan.  She
is a native of Stuttgart, Germany, where she lived for fifteen years, and is
fluent in German.  She and her husband will relocate to the Montvale, N.J.
area.