Mercedes Reports 32.1% Drop in U.S.

December proved to be a poor month for Mercedes-Benz that reported U.S. sales of 18,507 vehicles, a 32.1 percent decrease over the same month last year. The German automaker's total 2008 volume was 225,128 units, an 11.2 percent decline compared to 2007. Sales of the firm's C-Class model line rose 13.8 percent for the year while sales of the M-Class SUV line-up increased by 1.3 percent. Merc's Smart car unit that made its debut in the U.S. market in 2008, recorded 2,341 sales in December while the company's year-to-date sales came up to a total of 24,622 units.

2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class: Leaked Brochure

In about a week's time, Mercedes plans to lift the wraps on its next-generation E-Class. However, thanks to an internal leak in December when three exterior photos found their way into the internet and a new leakage that occurred today and concerns the official German market brochure, there won't be much to talk about when Merc unveils the 2010 E-Class, known internally under the codename W212. Aside from the new exterior pictures, the brochure scans reveal the executive sedan's squared-shapes interior as well as the E-Class' full engine line-up and dimensions.

Following in the footsteps of the C-Class and more recently the GLK, the new E-Class exterior gets taut body surfacing and angular design elements such as the four diamond shape headlamps up front. Same goes for the interior, though in a less tacky way than the GLK's cabin which looks like it was built from bricks. Apparently, Merc's designers are trying -we not saying that that they succeeded- to evoke the robustness of the mid 1980s E-Class.

2010 Mercedes E-Class

Official images of the forthcoming 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class have been leaked onto the internet ahead of the luxury sedan's planned debut in 2009. Known internally by its W212 chassis moniker, the new mid-size executive sedan from Mercedes-Benz adopts a more angular styling which tries to evoke the robustness of the mid-1980s - early-1990s E-Class range. Judging by these photos, we reckon that Merc's designers did it in a much less classy way, but we'll have to wait to see the sedan in real life for a safer verdict.