Mercedes-Benz USA has reported their highest sales month on record, selling a total of 31,192 units for the month of December.  The increased sales also helped propel MBUSA's annual sales to an all time high of 224,421 units, marking the twelfth consecutive year of sales growth for the company.

According to Paul Halata, president and CEO of MBUSA:  "Marking a dozen years of continuous sales growth in an increasingly challenging and complex market environment is an impressive achievement on the part of our employees and our retail partners whose enthusiasm and commitment to the brand have given us a competitive edge."  He added that "Much of our success is a result of our having the most diverse offering in the luxury segment which enables us to adapt readily to changes in consumer demand. We plan to build on that accomplishment in 2006 with the launch of the much-anticipated new generation our flagship S-Class model line in just a few weeks and in the spring, an all-new GL to round out our light truck offering."

Much of Mercedes' success this year can be attributed to the introduction of new or redesigned models, such as the M-Class, R-Class and CLS-Class.  Despite a declining light truck market, MBUSA noted an increase in the segment of 51.8% over last year.

As for the month of December, MBUSA again received a significant boost from the M-Class, increasing sales 117% over December of 2004 with 5,340 units being sold. The R-Class and C-Class also performed well, selling a total of 2,430 units and 9,806 units respectively.

For more info as well as individual model sales figures, you can check out Mercedes-Benz USA's full press release below.


OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


MBUSA Achieves 12th Consecutive Year of Sales Growth

MONTVALE, N.J., Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) reported the highest sales month in its history with 31,192 new vehicles sold in December, bringing the company to its all-time highest annual sales volume of 224,421.

"Marking a dozen years of continuous sales growth in an increasingly challenging and complex market environment is an impressive achievement on the part of our employees and our retail partners whose enthusiasm and commitment to the brand have given us a competitive edge," said Paul Halata, president and CEO of MBUSA. "Much of our success is a result of our having the most diverse offering in the luxury segment which enables us to adapt readily to changes in consumer demand. We plan to build on that accomplishment in 2006 with the launch of the much-anticipated new generation our flagship S-Class model line in just a few weeks and in the spring, an all-new GL to round out our light truck offering."

Halata attributed the sales growth to the success of the company's ongoing product offensive over the past year with the introduction of two new light truck models, the new generation ML-Class SUV and the R-Class which created a new vehicle segment in the luxury market: the grand sports tourer. MBUSA also introduced the CLS-Class, a unique high-styled four-door coupe which has been in constant demand since its launch last January.

Despite an overall declining light-truck market, MBUSA achieved a 51.8 percent increase in light-truck sales for the year. Combined sales of the brand's coupes and convertibles continued to increase year-over-year.

As a group -- the compact SLK roadster, sporty CLK, top-of-the-line CL coupe, iconic SL roadster, and all-new CLS four-door coupe -- increased 22.5 percent for the year, marking the best year ever for sales of Mercedes-Benz coupes and convertibles. Sales of Mercedes's popular diesel model, the E320 CDI, continued to grow with a 3.3 percent increase (4,299 units vs. 4,158 units).

DECEMBER SALES
Posting its best sales month with 31,192 units sold in December, MBUSA marked its strongest year-end finish with a 17.2 percent increase over last December's sales, the company's former best sales month on record. The C-Class led in sales volume with 9,806 units sold for December, an increase of 10.6 percent over December 2004. Sales growth was also demonstrated by the M-Class model line (117.2 percent) and the SL-Class (1.6 percent).

MERCEDES-BENZ CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED SALES
Separately, through the Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned program, MBUSA sold 3,649 pre-owned vehicles in December, bringing annual sales for the year to a total of 44,069 units.

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