Nov. 2006 Sales: Mercedes-Benz USA

[Variance]

Nov. 2006 Sales: Mercedes-Benz USA

MONTVALE, N.J., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- If record-breaking sales are any

indication, some people just may be finding stars under their trees this

holiday season ... Mercedes-Benz stars, that is. In November, Mercedes-Benz

USA achieved its third-highest sales month in its 42 years of doing

business in the U.S. with 22,079 units sold for the month, a 20.8 percent

increase over last November's 18,284 units. This marks the 10th consecutive

month that MBUSA has posted record-breaking sales and the company's best

November on record.

This brings MBUSA's year-to-date sales to 219,678 units, a 13.9 percent

increase over the same period last year, and keeping Mercedes-Benz on track

for accomplishing its 13th consecutive year of sales growth come the

ringing in of the new year.

One hot ticket item on people's wish lists this year -- high-end

luxury. All 20 of the Signature Edition CL600 luxury coupe offered

exclusively through Saks Fifth Avenue's annual "The Gift" holiday catalog

sold at $160,000 each in less than eight minutes on November 14. Sales of

the newest generation S-Class were nearly double this month over last

November (2,780 vs. 1,400), boosting sales for the high-end vehicles as a

group by 57.7 percent for the month (3,627 vs. 2,300) and 51.8 percent for

the year-to-date (36,787 vs. 24,230).

Not to be outdone, the E-Class also demonstrated impressive gains with

a 26.6 percent increase over last November, coming out on top as the volume

leader for the month with 4,918 units sold for the month. Sales of

Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, as a whole, grew 9.6 percent for the month

(15,301 vs. 13,967).

Additionally, contrary to industry trends, Mercedes-Benz vehicles in

the luxury light truck segment -- ML-Class, R-Class, GL-Class and G-Class

-- continued to demonstrate impressive gains with a combined 57 percent

increase over last November (6,778 vs. 4,317) and an 81 percent increase

over year-to-date 2005 (60,373 vs. 33,360). The ML-Class rose 6.8 percent;

the R- Class gained 5.1 percent; and the popularity of the GL-Class, the

newest member of the Mercedes-Benz family of SUVs, contributed to the

growth as well.

Separately, through the Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned program,

MBUSA sold 3,741 vehicles in November, an increase of 20.9 percent over

last November, bringing the year-to-date total to 43,363 units, a 7.3

percent increase over the same period in 2005.

In 2005, MBUSA achieved its twelfth consecutive year of sales growth by

setting the highest sales volume in its history with 224,421 new vehicle

sales. Headquartered in Montvale, N.J., MBUSA is responsible for the sales,

marketing and service of all Mercedes-Benz products in the United States.

More information on MBUSA and its products can be found on the Internet at

http://www.mbusa.com.

                              MERCEDES-BENZ USA

                            Sales -- November 2006

    Model          Nov. '06  Nov. '05  Monthly %  YTD 2006  YTD 2005  Yearly %

    C-CLASS          4,435  4,858    -8.7%      44,990  50,852    -11.5%

    E-CLASS          4,918  3,884    26.6%      43,079  44,049      -2.2%

    S-CLASS          2,780  1,400    98.6%      27,899  14,124      97.5%

    CL-CLASS            391    100    291.0%        965    1,124    -14.1%

    SL-CLASS            456    800    -43.0%      7,923    8,982    -11.8%

    CLK-CLASS        1,007  1,145    -12.1%      14,906  16,479      -9.5%

    SLK-CLASS          536    829    -35.3%      9,746  10,302      -5.4%

    CLS-CLASS          778    951    -18.2%      9,797  13,605    -28.0%

    R-CLASS          1,275  1,213      5.1%      16,622    2,529    557.3%

    ML-CLASS          3,183  2,980      6.8%      27,743  29,619      -6.3%

    GL-CLASS          2,285    n/a      n/a      15,439      n/a      n/a

    G-CLASS              35    124    -71.8%        569    1,212    -53.1%

    GRAND TOTAL      22,079  18,284    20.8%    219,678  192,877      13.9%

[source: Mercedes-Benz USA]