Mercedes-Benz Sales: A New Record High in April 2002

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News of May 16, 2002

Mercedes-Benz Sales: A New Record High in April 2002

Worldwide passenger car sales reached record levels in April with 101,400 vehicles sold for the month and 365,500 vehicles as at April
Best sales result ever in Western Europe
New E-Class: 23,600 passenger cars sold just two months after launch

Stuttgart - Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars achieved new sales records both for the month of April and for the year 2002 as at April: in April the passenger car business grew by three percent to 101,400 vehicles. The SL-Class with sales of over 3,200 passenger cars (10,900 as at April) and the E-Class -first introduced in mid-March - at over 13,800 vehicles (23,600 as at April) were particularly successful. 365,500 Mercedes-Benz passenger car sales increased slightly over the previous year, thus setting a new record for the period from January to April 2002.

Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Deputy Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing of Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars: "We are particularly pleased about the excellent acceptance of the new E-Class. This shows that we have once again hit the mark very well in meeting the needs and desires of our customers with this model, which is so important for our brand. The same also applies to the new CLK-Class, which we launched on the market in early May."

The development of the Mercedes-Benz passenger car business was particularly pleasing in Western Europe: in April of this year sales climbed to nearly 69,600 vehicles - up eight percent over the same month last year. Between January and April Mercedes-Benz sold over 241,900 passenger cars - up three percent from the previous year. Italy, France and Great Britain, in particular, succeeded in matching the sales results achieved in the preceding months. France posted an increase of 13 percent in April to almost 6,300 private cars - as at April the figure totals nearly 19,900 vehicles (up 11 percent). The company has achieved notable sales growth in Italy as well: 36 percent more vehicles (8,300) were shipped there in April than in the corresponding month of the previous year - as at April this represented around 28,500 vehicles, up 20 percent. In Great Britain Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars posted substantial growth even before the launch of the right-hand drive model of the new E-Class in June 2002: following an increase of 23 percent, more than 5,600 vehicles were sold (as at April, 27,800 vehicles, up nine percent).

The new E-Class models were particularly successful in Western Europe, along with the SL-Class and the M-Class. Owing to the increasing popularity of Mercedes-Benz' niche vehicles the SL-Class and the M-Class were able to achieve record results in the West European countries. SL-Class sales climbed considerably in April to over 1,800 vehicles (as at April, 5,600), while M-Class sales rose to over 4,400 vehicles - up 15 percent (as at April, 16,100 vehicles, up 20 percent). This underpins the position of this model as market leader in Western Europe in the Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) segment.

In Germany, Mercedes-Benz improved on the result of the previous year by three percent with around 37,000 passenger cars sold in April. As at April sales are at the same level as in the previous year with just under 119,700 vehicles

Mercedes-Benz' success is continuing in the USA. In April of this year just under 18,500 vehicles were sold there. This is equivalent to an increase of twelve percent. As at April Retail grew to around 68,700 vehicles, thus bringing sales up by eight percent.

(May 13, 2002)

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