Mercedes-Benz Achieves Best May Sales Figure in its History

In May, Mercedes-Benz sold more vehicles than ever before in this month. The brand delivered a total of 108,766 passenger vehicles (May 2010: 101,359) to customers worldwide. Deliveries thus rose by 7.3 percent compared to the high volume recorded in the same month last year. Since January, 490,021 customers (January-May 2010: 443,394) have decided to buy a Mercedes-Benz brand vehicle, resulting in an increase of 10.5 percent.

Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing Mercedes-Benz Cars: "The upswing we've experienced in recent months continued in May with a new sales record. Once again, growth was in particular driven by the BRIC countries. We achieved high growth rates in all of them. The strong demand for our new C-Class generation is also contributing to our dynamic development. This will also be the case with the new C-Class coupe, which hit dealerships last Saturday and has already met with an outstanding customer response."

In the course of the year Mercedes-Benz will introduce additional new models to the market, including the new M-Class, which will celebrate its world premiere this week. Sales of the vehicle will start in Europe on July 11, and the first units will be delivered to customers in fall this year. Dr. Schmidt added, "Beginning in fall, the pace of our growth will be further increased by the new M-Class, which will help us reach our goal of making 2011 the best year in our company's history. We want to sell more than 1.3 million Mercedes-Benz cars and smart fortwo overall."

Mercedes-Benz substantially increased sales in many markets in May. Sales in China (including Hong Kong) were once again at a record level, amounting to 16,401 units (May 2010: 11,463) and representing a 43.1 percent increase on the high sales volume achieved in the same month of last year. Since the beginning of the year, passenger car sales have thus risen by 62.0 percent to 75,896 units (January - May 2010: 46,844), which is also a new all-time high. The pace was similarly dynamic in the other BRIC countries. Mercedes-Benz surpassed its previous sales records of May in both India (plus 39.8 percent) and Russia (plus 49.2 percent). This was also achieved in South Korea (plus 29.1 percent) and Taiwan (plus 37.0 percent). High growth rates were also recorded in Brazil (plus 55.9 percent) and Turkey (plus 49.9 percent).

Mercedes-Benz delivered 18,886 vehicles to customers in the U.S. in May, an increase of 1.8 percent on the same month last year (May 2010: 18,548). During the first five months as a whole, deliveries totaled 90,274 units (January – May 2010: 85,405), an increase of 5.7 percent on the same period last year. Mercedes-Benz Canada delivered a record-breaking total of 3,052 units to customers (plus 11.0 percent) in May, which represents the best ever sales result for a month. Also the year-to-date growth brings a record with 11,715 units (January – May 2010: 11,535).

Mercedes-Benz was once again the best-selling premium brand in Germany in May. At 24,647 units (May 2010: 24,688), sales were at previous year's level. Deliveries have risen to 96,266 units since the beginning of the year (January - May 2010: 95,484). In Western Europe, Mercedes-Benz has delivered a total of 219,782 passenger vehicles since January (January - May 2010: 216,669), representing a slight increase on the same period last year. In May, the cars bearing the star emblem were especially in demand in Sweden (plus 17.3 percent) and the UK (plus 12.7 percent).

The luxury segment continues to be dominated by the S-Class sedan. Ever since it was introduced on the market in 2005, the vehicle has defended its lead in the segment every year. Around 400,000 units of the luxury sedan have been delivered to customers to date. The car continued to be the market leader in May, with sales rising by 9.9 percent to 6,224 units. Mercedes-Benz also continues to grow in the E-Class segment, with sales rising by 5.8 percent on the same month last year, to 30,820 vehicles. Especially the new E-Class convertible has been popular in the year to date (plus 126.4 percent). But the new models are very favoured as well. The new CLS, which is available since January, and the in March introduced SLK continue to develop very dynamically, with sales increasing by 164.2 percent and 53.2 percent in May. With 24,833 units the C-Class sedan was the market leader in its segment, and together with the new C-Class estate sales increased by 25.6 percent on the same month last year. Mercedes-Benz continues to post successes in the SUV segment as well last month, with demand rising by 30.6 percent to the record level of 21,766 units. Sales rose sharply for all of the production series, including the G-Class (plus 57.4 percent) and the new generation of the R-Class, which nearly doubled its deliveries (plus 98.9 percent). With an increase of 51.2 percent, the GLK achieved the best month ever.

Sales of the smart fortwo continue to rise as well. Last month 10,165 customers bought one of the innovative two-seaters, 8.6 percent more than in May 2010. Sales have thus risen by 8.1 percent since January, to 44,487 units (January - May 2010: 41,163). Growth continues to be particularly strong in China (including Hong Kong), where sales increased to 1,011 vehicles last month (plus 188.9 percent), triple the sales posted in the same month last year (May 2010: 350). The smart continues to speed ahead in the German market as well, coming in at the top of its segment for the 15th month in a row in May and seeing sales rise by 21.8 percent to 3,196 units.

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