December 2010 Sales: Mercedes Benz USA

[Drew Dowdell]

Daimler AG Reports a 5.5 Percent Increase for Mercedes-Benz and smart Vehicles in the U.S. for December 2010

-- Mercedes-Benz USA Records December Sales of 21,469 Vehicles - an Improvement of 7 Percent over December 2009 and the highest month for 2010

-- smart USA Records 570 Sales in December 2010

NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Daimler AG (stock exchange abbreviation DAI) today reported U.S. sales of 22,039 Mercedes-Benz and smart vehicles, an improvement of 5.5 Percent compared to December 2009. All sales figures in this release are on an unadjusted basis unless otherwise noted.

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) reported December sales of 21,469 vehicles, its highest monthly volume of the year. 20,090 passenger cars, light truck vehicles and 1,379 Sprinter vans are included in this total. This brings the company's sales total for 2010 to 225,007, an increase of 18% over 2009.

Ernst Lieb, president and CEO of MBUSA said: "Despite the challenges of a slow recovery, we see good indicators in terms of our sales volume throughout the model range. This is certainly due in large part to the customer-directed efforts we've undertaken here at MBUSA over the past few years and the extraordinary commitment of our retail network to provide an unmatched ownership experience. As virtually all third-party indicators show, customers are confident about the Mercedes-Benz brand and we think that will translate to even stronger momentum going forward."

The 9th generation E-Class was the volume leader for both the month and year, with December sales of 5,638, bringing its annual volume to 60,922 – a 41.4 % increase over its volume in 2009. The C-Class – the gateway to the Mercedes-Benz brand for younger and first-time Mercedes-Benz buyers – followed with monthly sales of 4,924 and a yearly total of 58,785, a 12.1 % increase over last. Rounding out the top three volume lines was the popular M-Class SUV which posted monthly sales of 3,783 bringing its annual volume to 29,698, a 15.1 % increase over last year.

Sales at the high end continued strong for 2010 with the commanding G-Class up 38.8 % for the year and the flagship S-Class sedan up 21.5 %. The company sold 48 of its top-of-the-line supercar - the SLS AMG – in December, bringing its annual total to 499.

smart USA recorded 570 sales in December 2010, a month-over-month sales increase of 170 percent from November 2010. Year-to-date sales total 5,927 units.

The smart fortwo electric drive is beginning to arrive in the U.S. marketplace, and, in December, smart USA announced a partnership with Hertz to bring smart fortwo electric drive vehicles to the Connect by Hertz car sharing program.

Detailed vehicle sales information for MBUSA will be announced in a separate press release issued by Mercedes-Benz USA.

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</td></tr><tr><td colspan="7" style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">Mercedes-Benz Cars Division in the U.S. Sales Summary Through December 2010

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</td><td colspan="2" style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">Month Sales

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">%

</td><td colspan="2" style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">Sales CYTD

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">%

</td><td>

</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">Curr Yr

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">Pr Yr

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">Change

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">Curr Yr

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">Pr Yr

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">Change

</td><td>

</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">Mercedes-Benz USA (passenger cars and light truck vehicles)

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">20,090

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">20,025

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 6pt;" valign="bottom">0.3%

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">216,448

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">190,604

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 6pt;" valign="bottom">13.6%

</td><td>

</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">smart USA

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">570

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">864

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 6pt;" valign="bottom">-34%

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">5,927

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">14,595

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 6pt;" valign="bottom">-59.4%

</td><td>

</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">*Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">1,379

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">-

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">-

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">8,559

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">-

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">-

</td><td>

</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">Mercedes-Benz USA / smart USA combined

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">22,039

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">20,889

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 6pt;" valign="bottom">5.5%

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">230,934

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 12pt;" valign="bottom">205,199

</td><td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding-right: 6pt;" valign="bottom">12.5%

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</td></tr><tr><td colspan="7" style="border-top: 1pt solid black;" valign="bottom">*Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner Sprinter Vans are sold and marketed in the U.S. by Mercedes-Benz USA and Daimler Vans USA, respectively.

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