Mercedes-Benz Breaks A 52 Year Record

MELBOURNE – July 5, 2010: June 2010 was a record month of vehicle sales in Australia with almost every segment being up. Mercedes-Benz posted its best ever retail result in the fifty two year history of the marque in Australia with 1976 passenger/SUV sales.

The Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Mr Horst von Sanden said “The whole team at Mercedes-Benz Cars is very excited that our First Choice strategy focusing on customer value has delivered such an outstanding result. From B-Class through C-Class, E-Class and S-Class we have consolidated our position as the leading prestige brand with our customers and also in the market year to date. This is our fourth month of clear sales leadership in the luxury/prestige segment and with exciting product coming we are confident we will achieve our best ever year in Australia in 2010.

There have been a number of standout models for us in June that have performed strongly or led their product segments; again this is due to our integrated strategy. The B-Class has established itself in a very strong third position in its segment by offering a unique sports tourer solution.

The Wheels Car of the Year winning C-Class sedan is the clear choice with one in three buyers. We have delivered more than 300 C 63 AMG models since the start of the year which puts us well on target for the C 63 AMG to be the most successful AMG model ever in Australia. The C-Class Estate is also attracting a record number of buyers in this niche segment.

Our all new E-Class Sedan, Coupe and Cabriolet with their combination of four, six and eight cylinder diesel and petrol engines and class leading safety and value all have commanding segment leadership.

Our range topping S-Class retains its segment leadership despite aggressive challenges from established and newcomers to the segment.

The hotly contested SUV Luxury segment has seen the GL-Class and ML-Class cement their growth with the ML again leading the segment in May. The GL despite a continuing stock shortage is maintaining its sales rate year to date.”