Mercedes-Benz Malaysia has set its passenger car sales in 2007 - 3,606 units - as the minimum benchmark for this year's sales.

The company sold 4,160 passenger cars last year - its highest ever.

President and chief executive officer Peter Honegg said equalling its 2008 sales would be tough, but the impact from the current global economic downturn was not as bad as it had initially expected. "We sold 1,500 units in the first five months of 2009, representing a 1.5% dip from the same period last year. Our target this year is to at least be at the same level as in 2007 but we think we can surpass that. We doubt we will reach last year's sales," he said.

Of the 1,500 units sold, the best seller was its Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The company was monitoring its daily order intake and cancellations, Honegg said, adding that so far, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia was on target to match its 2007 sales.

Cycle & Carriage Bintang (CCB), a local dealer of Mercedes-Benz cars, on June 30th presented two B-Class cars to customers. Honegg said it was imperative for either Mercedes-Benz Malaysia or any of the marque's dealers to offer attractive packages during a downturn. "With normal marketing methods, we cannot survive the crisis. We would not normally give out prizes. We are doing a lot of retail activities initiated either by our dealers or in collaboration with us," he said.