Mercedes-Benz Sales on Track: Upswing continues in October

• Dr. Joachim Schmidt: "Since the beginning of the year we have recorded higher sales in every month compared to the results in the same period of last year. Also in the fourth quarter we want to continue the trend of the recent months and grow further.

• "We are still on track to sell more vehicles in the full year than ever before."

• Positive development for Mercedes-Benz in many markets — strong sales growth in the U.S., record sales in China

• Mercedes-Benz is the most successful premium automaker in Germany

• C-Class sedan and S-Class are market leaders during the year to date

Following record sales in the third quarter, in October Mercedes-Benz once again succeeded in surpassing the excellent sales level reached in the same month of last year. Shortly before the launch of the high-volume B-Class, 103,378 customers (+2.9%) chose to purchase a Mercedes-Benz vehicle. A total of 1,022,666 units have been delivered since January, an increase of 7.1%. Mercedes-Benz thus set a new sales record in the first ten month of the year and passed the one million units mark a month earlier than in 2010.

Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing Mercedes-Benz Cars, said, "Since the beginning of the year we have recorded higher sales in every month compared to the results in the same period of last year. The growth was driven above all by the new generation of the C-Class. Also in the fourth quarter we want to continue the trend of the recent months and grow further. We expect strong momentum particularly from the market launches of the new B-Class and M-Class in November. Even though these vehicles have not yet arrived at the dealerships, the customer response has been outstanding. So we are still on track to sell more vehicles in the full year than ever before." From January through October the Mercedes-Benz Cars division sold 1,108,538 (+6.9%) Mercedes-Benz and smart fortwo vehicles, also setting a new record.