Mercedes Benz

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


Mercedes-Benz Cars off to a successful start in 2008 - sales grow by 16 percent in January

* Mercedes-Benz brand delivered 82,300 passenger cars in January, an increase of 12 percent

* Sales of Mercedes-Benz in Germany rise by 13 percent

* Deliveries of C-Class sedan and station wagon more than doubled in January

The Mercedes-Benz Cars division delivered 90,400 vehicles to customers all over the world in January 2008 (January 2007: 77,700). Sales of the Mercedes-Benz, AMG, Maybach, and smart brands thus rose by 16 percent to set a new record. The Mercedes-Benz brand alone delivered a record-breaking 82,300 passenger cars in January, an increase of 12 percent on the figure for January 2007 (73,500 vehicles).

The new Mercedes-Benz C-Class was particularly successful in January: in total, sales of the new sedan and station wagon doubled to 26,800 units compared to January 2007 (13,400 units).

Sales of A-Class and B-Class models also developed positively at the start of the year: in January Mercedes-Benz sold 17,000 units of these series worldwide, a three-percent increase on the total recorded in the same month last year (16,500 units) and the best result ever posted in this segment in the month of January.

Mercedes-Benz continued to increase its sales in the U.S. as well as in other countries. In the U.S. the brand's sales once again set a new record, as deliveries rose by seven percent to 18,300 units (January 2007: 17,100). In the Asia/Pacific region, Mercedes-Benz broke another record by selling 11,700 units (January 2007: 9,800), an increase of 19 percent.

In Germany, sales of the brand with the star rose by 13 percent in January to15,500 units (January 2007: 13,700). Partly as a result of double-digit growth rates in the UK and Italy, sales in Western Europe outside Germany rose by 12 percent to 27,900 units (January 2007: 24,900), setting yet another all-time high for Mercedes-Benz.

The smart fortwo posted another jump in sales in January 2008, when a total of 8,000 customers all over the world opted for the two-seater. This figure marked higher January sales than the brand has ever posted before (January 2007: 3,400). Far more than twice as many units of the smart fortwo were delivered to customers as in the previous year (an increase of 134 percent). Moreover, the smart brand celebrated its official market launch in the U.S. in January.


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