Sales of the Mercedes Car Group rose seven percent in September to the record level of 124,600 units (September 2006: 116,000). Deliveries of the brands Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and smart also increased to a record 942,300 units over the first three quarters of 2007 (January – September 2006: 934,200). A total of 114,100 vehicles from Mercedes-Benz were delivered to customers in September 2007, an increase of seven percent from September 2006 (106,500). The brand with the star also posted a new record for the first nine months of the year by delivering 872,700 units, up three percent from the same period last year (January – September 2006: 846,300).

The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board of DaimlerChrysler AG will today recommend to the Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting that the name of the Group be changed to Daimler AG following the disposal of 80.1% of its stake in Chrysler Holding LLC.

Mercedes-Benz USA reported its best September on record with sales of 22,459 new vehicles, an increase of 13 pct over last September.

This company said this brings its year-to-date sales to 180,265, a 1.8 pct increase over the same period in 2006.

During its first full month on the market, the company said sales of the new 2008 C- Class boosted the volume-leading model line by 42.8 pct.

Other highlights for the month included a 14 pct jump in car sales, which was achieved in part by increases by not only the C-Class, but also the E-Class, up 21.4 pct, the CLK coupes and convertibles, up 29.5 pct, and the CL-Class coupe, up by 575.6 pct.