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Mercedes-Benz USA Sales Increase 9.6 Percent in September

1 October 1999

Mercedes-Benz USA Sales Increase 9.6 Percent in September

        - Best September Sales Ever; Highest Nine-Month Sales Volume -

    MONTVALE, N.J., Oct. 1 -- Mercedes-Benz USA, Inc. continued
its record-setting momentum in September with 15,038 new vehicles sold, a
9.6 percent increase over the 13,728 vehicles sold in September 1998, making
it the best September ever for the company.
    Year-to-date sales surged to an all-time high of 136,004 for the first
nine months of the year, a 9.3 percent increase over the 124,485 vehicles sold
during the same period last year, making it the best nine month year-to-date
sales ever for MBUSA.
    The star performer for the month was the award-winning M-Class, which
recorded the highest monthly volume since its introduction in 1997 with sales
of 4,863, an increase of 51.4 percent over the 3,213 vehicles sold during the
same month period last year.
    Passenger car lines continued to show strong momentum led by the E-Class
with sales of 3,960, a 19.6 percent increase over the 3,313 sold in September
1998.  The S-Class, MBUSA's flagship model line, recorded the highest
September volume in its history with 1,841 vehicles sold, an increase of
60.6 percent over the 1,146 vehicles sold in the comparable period last year.
    C-Class sales for the month came in at 2,444, a slight decrease of
5.6 percent (vs. 2,590).  The legendary SL coupe/roadster recorded sales of
442, a decrease of 48 percent (vs. 850).  The ever-popular CLK coupes and
cabriolets posted sales of 863, down 51.5 percent over last year's 1,780 while
the SLK roadster sales of 625 decreased 25.2 percent (vs. 836) during
September.
    On a year-to-date basis, the E-Class, S-Class, SL, CLK, SLK and M-Class
models achieved their highest nine-month sales volumes on record.  E-Class
year-to-date sales of 36,798 represent an 8.2 percent increase over the
34,020 sold during the same period last year.  S-Class sales increased
56.7 percent to 19,369 (from 12,362).  SL sales rose from 5,718 to 5,795, an
increase of 1.3 percent.  CLK sales increased 74.9 percent to 10,446 from
5,974, while SLK sales increased 8.9 percent to 8,503 from 7,810.  M-Class
sales rose to 32,072 from 31,784, an increase of 0.9 percent.  Year-to-date
sales of the C-Class trailed 14.2 percent (23,021 vs. 26,817).
    Through its Starmark pre-owned vehicle program, Mercedes-Benz recorded
sales of 1,928, an increase of 101% compared to September 1998 sales of 960
Starmark vehicles.  On a year-to-date basis, Starmark sales increased 185% to
17,330 (vs. 6,080 in September 1998).