Mercedes-Benz USA Records Best First-Half Ever

102,927 Mercedes-Benz Vehicles Sold in U.S. Year-to-date

MONTVALE, N.J., July 2 -- Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) reported its best first-half of the year ever with sales of 16,159 new vehicles for June 2002, bringing the year-to-date total to 102,927, a 2.7 percent increase versus the same period last year.

"We're happy that the first two quarters have been so strong, especially considering that our traditional volume leader -- the E-Class -- is phasing out the current edition model in preparation for the introduction of the all new E-Class this August. This leaves us well-positioned for the third and fourth quarters to post our sixth consecutive record-breaking year," said Keith May, vice president of sales for MBUSA.

The new C-Coupe boosted C-Class sales, making it the volume-leader with a soaring 72.1 percent increase for the month (5,516 units vs. 3,205 in June 2001). Year-to-date, the C-Class also led with sales of 32,857 vehicles, an increase of 45.7 percent over the same period as last year.

Other highlights for the month included the growing popularity of coupes and roadsters as the SL-, CL-, and CLK-Classes posted June sales increases of 67.8 percent, 48.7 percent and 40.7 percent respectively. Year-to-date, the SL- and CL-Classes also posted strong gains.

Separately, through its Starmark pre-owned vehicle program, MBUSA recorded sales of 3,602, an increase of 2.4 percent over last June. On a year-to-date basis, Starmark sales increased 17.8 percent to 21,733 units sold.

                              MERCEDES-BENZ USA
                              Sales -- June 2002

                               June    June  Monthly   YTD      YTD    Yearly
    Model                      '02     '01      %      2002     2001      %

    C-CLASS TOTAL             5,516   3,205   72.1%   32,857   22,550   45.7%

    E-CLASS TOTAL             1,886   4,708  -59.9%   16,563   23,421  -29.3%

    S-CLASS TOTAL             1,346   1,829  -26.4%    9,988   12,770  -21.8%

    CL TOTAL                    333     224   48.7%    2,022    1,824   10.9%

    SL TOTAL                  1,082     645   67.8%    7,416    2,515  194.9%

    CLK TOTAL                 1,307     929   40.7%    8,862    8,884   -0.2%

    SLK TOTAL                   791   1,285  -38.4%    4,481    5,853  -23.4%

    M-CLASS TOTAL             3,608   4,497  -19.8%   19,098   22,399  -14.7%

    G-CLASS                     290     n/a     n/a    1,640      n/a     n/a

    GRAND TOTAL              16,159  17,322   -6.7%  102,927  100,216    2.7%