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Mercedes-Benz USA Reports October Sales

2 November 2000

Mercedes-Benz USA Reports All-Time Best October on Record With Sales of 18,381 New Vehicles

          MBUSA Year-to-Date Sales Up 10 Percent to 169,133 Vehicles

    MONTVALE, N.J. - Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) reported its all-time best
October on record with sales of 18,381 vehicles, up 3.5 percent from the
October 1999 sales record of 17,768. Year-to-date sales also hit an all-time
record, increasing 10 percent to 169,133, versus 153,772 sales during the
comparable period in 1999.
    Sales of the all new C-Class -- the C240 and C320 which went on sale just
over a month ago -- soared 47.3 percent versus October 1999 from 2,337 to
3,443 units. Year-to-date sales for the C-Class are 9.1 percent ahead of last
year (27,672 versus 25,358).
    With the launch of the new model-year 2001 M-Class, October M-Class retail
sales were an impressive 6,046 units, representing a 43.5 percent sales
increase over last October's sales record. This is not only the all-time best
month ever for the M-Class -- surpassing the previous sales record by 24
percent -- but is also the all-time monthly sales record for any single
Mercedes-Benz vehicle class. In addition, M-Class year-to-date sales have
increased 18.7 percent compared to 1999 (43,062 versus 36,285).
    The ever-popular CLK family of coupes and cabriolet has increased 20.6
percent on a year-to-date basis (14,617 versus 12,118). The S-Class
year-to-date sales are also higher than last year by 9.5 percent (24,540
versus 22,420). Year-to-date sales for E-Class continue above 1999's record
pace (41,620 versus 41,582).
    Continuing several months of sales records, October SLK sales of 909 units
represent a 13.3 percent increase over October 1999 sales (802 units).
Year-to-date SLK sales are 21.9 percent ahead of 1999 (11,344 versus 9,305).
The all-new CL-Class continues its strong momentum, recording 177 sales in its
eleventh month on the market.
    The following models recorded their all-time best sales month ever in
October: C240, C320, CL600, CLK55 AMG and ML320.
    Separately, through its Starmark certified pre-owned vehicle program,
MBUSA recorded sales of 2,424 for the month, an increase of 8.9 percent
compared to October 1999 sales of 2,226 vehicles. On a year-to-date basis,
Starmark sales increased 28.4 percent to a total of 25,101 versus 19,556 in
October 1999.