Today is said to be the most stressful day of the year, especially for the folks working for MBUSA. Daimler AG said today that its December U.S. vehicle sales declined nearly 24% as demand plummeted for Mercedes vehicles, but also other brands, amid the financial market meltdown. Sales in Mercedes-Benz Car Group fell 32.1% to 18,507 vehicles from 27,269. The biggest percentage drop in December sales came in R-Class models, down 59.8% (not surprised by this one at all).

For the 2008 year, Daimler AG sales fell 1.5% to 249,750 units from 253,433. That also includes an 11.2% decrease in Mercedes-Benz car sales to 225,128 vehicles from 253,433. Sales of the smart fortwo totaled 24,622 vehicles for 2008.

The C-Class is once again the bread and butter for Mercedes, with sales of 72,471 vehicles, a 13.8% increase over last year. Sales of the M-Class also increased by 1.3% for some reason; it seems people are not concerned with the gasoline prices anymore.