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Mercedes-Benz Sells 100,000th Vehicle Equipped With Tele Aid

20 April 2000

Mercedes-Benz Sells 100,000th Vehicle Equipped With Tele Aid; Tele Aid Emergency Call System Now Standard on Most Mercedes-Benz Models

    MONTVALE, N.J., April 19 Mercedes-Benz USA announced today
that, in only one year, it has sold 100,000 vehicles with Tele Aid, a high-
tech telematics system that delivers innovative safety, security and
convenience services to Mercedes-Benz owners.  The current Mercedes-Benz Tele
Aid program provides a range of telematics services:
    -- automatic emergency response in an accident
    -- touch-of-a-button live-operator emergency response
    -- optional live-operator routing assistance (to critical service or point
       of interest)
    -- link-up with Mercedes-Benz Roadside Assistance
    -- link-up with Mercedes-Benz Client Assistance Center
    -- stolen vehicle tracking

    Last March, Mercedes-Benz became one of the first auto manufacturers to
make a telematics system standard across an entire model line with its new
2000 model-year S-Class sedan.  Tele Aid was then added to all 2000-model
C-Class sedans, CLK coupes, E-Class sedans and wagons, CL coupes and SL
roadsters.  This month's debut of the 2001 SLK roadster makes Tele Aid
standard on nearly all Mercedes models.  With the launch of the 2001 M-Class
sport utility this fall, Mercedes-Benz will likely become the first auto maker
with standard telematics on all vehicle lines.
    "By the end of this year, we will have sold more than 200,000 Tele Aid
vehicles," said Ken Enders, vice president of marketing for MBUSA.  "Next
year, we will help an owner unlock their car, diagnose an electrical problem
or even notify them that their theft alarm has been triggered.  What we will
do is bring truly useful new features into the car through our industry-
leading telematics platform."
    Mercedes-Benz Tele Aid service is free for the first year and available
thereafter for about $17 a month. Tele Aid integrates wireless voice and data
telecommunications, location technologies such as GPS (global positioning
satellites), and live-operator and data response systems to provide enhanced
in-car security and convenience services.  ATX Technologies, Inc. provides
live-operator response and stolen vehicle tracking to Tele Aid clients from
its Dallas-area Telematics Response Center, while the Mercedes-Benz Client
Assistance Center in Montvale, N.J. provides live-operator response to address
client's requests for information about their vehicle as well as roadside
assistance.
    Headquartered in Montvale, NJ near New York City, Mercedes-Benz USA is
responsible for the sales and marketing of Mercedes-Benz automobiles, parts
and accessories in the United States through a network of about 300 authorized
retailers.  During 1999, the company sold 189,437 vehicles in the U.S., an
11.3 percent increase over the previous year, setting the highest sales volume
ever in its history.  MBUSA is currently running 17 percent ahead of last
year's record-setting pace.
    ATX Technologies Inc. is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas with offices
in Dallas and Detroit.  ATX provides leading-edge telematics services for
mobile applications including automatic collision notification, location-based
emergency response and roadside assistance, stolen vehicle tracking,
navigation and other information services. The company pioneered automotive
original-equipment and after-market applications of telematics beginning in
1995, and in 1999 introduced telematics services on wireless communications
devices.  For more information, please visit http://www.atxtechnologies.com.