* Mercedes Car Group sells 617,700 vehicles in first half of 2007
* Very positive customer response to the new C-Class sedan
* smart fortwo posts sales increase of 39 percent to 9,800 units

The Mercedes Car Group sold 117,200 Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and smart brand passenger vehicles in June 2007, compared to 118,800 units in the same month last year. A total of 617,700 units were sold in the first half of the year (January-June 2006: 627,300). The Mercedes-Benz brand set a new record for the month of June by delivering 107,300 vehicles to customers (June 2006: 106,200). The brand with the star also posted record sales of 575,700 units over the first six months of the year (January-June 2006: 565,300).

The new-generation Mercedes-Benz E-Class performed extremely well during the period of January to June 2007. Sales of the upper-range model series totaled 120,100 units in the first half of the year, up ten percent from the same period last year.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan met with a tremendous response from customers in the first three months after its market launch. A total of 22,800 Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans were sold in June, which represents a 41 percent increase from June 2006. The new Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan will be successively introduced to the U.S., Japan , and right-hand drive markets over the next few months. Mercedes-Benz will also begin offering three additional engine variants for the model in August: the Mercedes-Benz C 180, Mercedes-Benz C 230, and Mercedes-Benz C 200 cdi.

Sales of Mercedes-Benz SUVs also continue to rise strongly. In the first six months of 2007, deliveries of the brand’s SUVs worldwide rose 13 percent to the record level of 86,500 units. Mercedes-Benz continues to be the best-selling premium brand in the SUV segment in Western Europe. Sales of Mercedes-Benz diesel SUVs in the U.S. have developed particularly well. Through June, they accounted for 18 percent of all Mercedes-Benz SUVs sold in the 45 states in which the brand began offering diesel SUVs at the end of 2006.

Mercedes-Benz set a new sales record for the first half of the year in the U.S., delivering 118,200 passenger vehicles (January-June 2006: 114,900), up three percent from the same period last year.

After focusing on the smart fortwo, the smart brand delivered 9,900 vehicles last month (June 2006: 12,600). Sales of smart fortwo vehicles alone rose to 9,800 units, an increase of 39 percent.


Overview of Mercedes Car Group Sales

June 2007
Change in %
Jan.-June 2007
Change in %
Mercedes-Benz
107,300
+1.0
575,700
+1.8
smart
9,900
-20.9
42,000
-32.2





Mercedes Car Group
117,200
-1.3
617,700
-1.5
Western Europe
75,800
-1.2
379,300
-4.5
- of which Germany
32,800
-1.1
160,400
-3.5
NAFTA
22,000
-3.9
130,700
+3.1
- of which U.S.*
19,600
-5.8
118,200
+2.9
Asia/Pacific
11,900
-7.9
66,700
-1.0
- of which Japan
4,400
-25.9
21,500
-20.1
* Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles




Source: DaimlerChrysler