Coming off a slight sales increase at its U.S. division, DaimlerChrysler is reporting today that worldwide, sales of the Mercedes Car Group's Mercedes-Benz, smart and Maybach brands have dropped 8.2 percent in March to 127,000 new units (compared to 138,400 units in March 2006). This figure brings the Mercedes Car Group's year-to-date sales total to 286,800 units, a decrease of 2.8 percent when compared to first three months of 2006.

Separately, things didn't look quite so bleak for Mercedes-Benz, with the luxury division noting worldwide sales of 122,900 units in March (a 2.0 percent decrease from 2007). Through the first three months of the year, Mercedes-Benz has reached the record sales level of 274,400 new units, a 3.1 percent increase over January - March 2006.

To learn more, including how sales of the Mercedes Car Group fared in each of its key global markets, keep reading for the official press release.

Enjoy.


OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


Mercedes Car Group delivers 286,800 vehicles around the world in the first quarter of 2007

• Record sales for Mercedes-Benz with 274,400 vehicles in first three months
  
  
• Successful market launch of Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan and new smart fortwo
  
  
• E-Class posts strong growth in first quarter
  
  
• Very positive results for the CLS-Class with more than 100,000 vehicles delivered to customers since its launch
  
  

Stuttgart, Apr 04, 2007
The Mercedes Car Group delivered 286,800 vehicles to customers around the world in the first quarter 2007, compared with 295,000 in the same month last year. In March 2007, sales of Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and smart brand vehicles totaled 127,000 units (same month last year: 138,400). Deliveries of Mercedes-Benz for the first quarter increased three percent to the record level of 274,400 passenger vehicles (Q1 2006: 266,000 units). Following sales in March 2006 that were well above average (125,500), Mercedes-Benz sold 122,900 passenger cars in March 2007. This result makes this year’s March the second best sales month ever.

The new C-Class got off to an excellent start at the end of March. For the presentation of the C-Class on March 31, 2007, German retailers registered the highest number of visitors ever with a total of 470,000 customers in their showrooms. At the time of its market launch, 80,000 orders had already been received for the sedan. Test drives are also very much in demand. In addition to about 7,000 test drives conducted on the weekend of the launch, appointments have been made for 10,000 additional drives within the next few days.

The new-generation E-Class also performed extremely well during the first quarter of 2007. Mercedes-Benz sold 60,200 units of the upper-range automobile worldwide (plus 15 percent). The Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class also recorded a very positive first milestone in March: More than 100,000 units of the four-door coupe have been delivered to customers around the world since the vehicle was launched in October 2004.

In the United States, sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles from January to March were up nine percent from the same period last year, reaching a record total of 56,000 units. A new sales record was set in the Asia/Pacific region as well, with sales there increasing four percent to 34,200 units. During the first quarter as a whole, Mercedes-Benz delivered 159,900 vehicles to customers in Western Europe (Q1 2006: 159,600).

The new smart fortwo made its market debut on the last weekend in March, at which time 50,000 customers had already ordered one of the new two-seaters. Global sales of smart amounted to 4,100 units in March, and were therefore in line with expectations.

Overview of Mercedes Car Group Sales

* Mercedes-Benz passenger cars