An analysis of the sales figures for the period January to March 2005 has shown that about 80 per cent of newly registered diesel-powered Mercedes cars in Germany are equipped with particulate filters, a higher proportion than in any other country. Since October 2003, Mercedes-Benz has delivered more than 140,000 diesel cars with particulate filters to customers in Western Europe, with German customers alone buying about 110,000 of these vehicles.

In no other European country are as many new Mercedes-Benz cars sold with diesel particulate filters (DPF) as in Germany. DPF vehicles also account for an above-average share of new Mercedes car registrations in Sweden (55 per cent) and Switzerland (47 per cent). In Luxembourg, Italy and Austria, between 25 and 35 per cent of Mercedes customers opted for a new diesel vehicle with particulate filter between January and March. Demand for CDI models with DPFs is lowest in France (5.5 per cent), Belgium (2.2 per cent) and Spain (0.9 per cent).

In Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland, new diesel-powered C-, E-, CLK- and M-Class vehicles ordered since April 2005 will be delivered with DPFs as standard. Starting this summer, all diesel-powered Mercedes passenger cars will be equipped with particulate filters as standard in these countries. As a result, Mercedes-Benz will have the world’s largest range of passenger car models fitted with DPFs as standard equipment.

In October 2003, Mercedes-Benz became the first automotive brand to offer DPFs in combination with EU-4 emissions standard compliance. Since then, it has delivered more than 140,000 passenger cars with this technology to customers in Western Europe.