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.October 15, 2003
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This Week:

• Chrysler Group President Dieter Zetsche Launches Production of All-New 2004 Dodge Durango at Newark Assembly Plant

• Honda Introduces Breakthrough Fuel Cell Stack that Operates at Below Freezing Temperatures

• BMW Z4 roadster: After a successful launch, refinements for its second model year

• Ford, Mazda Announce 21 Billion Baht (US$500 Million) Investment In Thailland

• Herbert Demel Appointed CEO Of Fiat Auto

• Mercedes-Benz Expands Its Market Position in North America and Asia in First Three Quarters of 2003

• General Motors is rewarded by the Asian American Advertising Federation as the Marketer of the year for its quality marketing efforts to the Asian American Community

• MINI Cooper Most Appealing Compact Car For Second Year In A Row

• Philippines To Become Ford's Asean Export Hub

• DaimlerChrysler fuel cell Sprinter to be field-tested by UPS

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Mercedes-Benz Expands Its Market Position in North America and Asia in First Three Quarters of 2003
 

Positive sales trend in Western Europe: September sales up from last year in Germany, Great Britain and Spain . E- and S-Class strengthen their leading market position worldwide by achieving new sales records through September . 2003 sales target for smart roadster and roadster-coupé increased significantly Stuttgart - The Mercedes Car Group sold 108,900 passenger cars worldwide in September 2003, compared with 110,200 in the same month last year. In the first nine months of this year, around 914,600 passenger cars were delivered to customers around the world, or about two percent less than the 932,400 units delivered during the same time period in 2002.

In September 2003, 96,500 customers worldwide purchased a Mercedes-Benz brand model, compared with 98,200 last year. For the first three quarters as a whole, the sales figure of 822,400 passenger cars is down two percent from the record level achieved in 2002. The main contributors to this generally stable sales situation were the E-Class (224,500 passenger cars, up 33 percent) and the S-Class (80,000 units, up five percent), both of which managed to extend their worldwide market lead in the first nine months of the year by posting new records in an increasingly competitive environment.

Although the U.S. market as a whole contracted by around two percent during the first three quarters of 2003, Mercedes-Benz increased its sales there by four percent to 159,400 passenger cars. As a result, the brand was able to top its previous record of 153,700 passenger cars set last year. Mercedes-Benz is also continuing to expand in Asia, where sales jumped by twelve percent to 69,300 vehicles from January to September 2003.

In September 2003, Western Europe also had some positive signals for Mercedes-Benz, as Germany (32,500 passenger cars, up three percent), Great Britain (10,400 cars, up 21 percent) and Spain (3,100 cars, up 60 percent) all saw deliveries exceed those posted in the same month last year. However, there were considerable differences in how sales developed in the various markets of Western Europe through September 2003: Even though the continued weakness of the German market caused sales there in the first three quarters (264,500 units) to remain eight percent below those achieved last year, Mercedes-Benz managed to gain shares in almost all other major European markets. In Great Britain, the brand's second-largest European sales market, demand increased in the first nine months of the year by ten percent to 69,300 passenger cars. Deliveries meanwhile rose by one percent to 59,100 units in Italy, and by nine percent to 26,200 units in Spain.

In September 2003, smart sales rose by three percent to 12,400 passenger vehicles (September 2002: 12,000). In the first nine months of the year as a whole, 92,200 smarts were delivered compared to 92,800 during the same period in 2002. Since the market launch in April 2003, 14,000 smart roadsters and roadster-coupés have been sold, enabling the original annual sales target to be increased by significantly more than 8,000 units.

(Oct 08, 2003)