Mercedes Offering Special Incentives Up to $5,000

But it gets even better. Mercedes and BMW are in a very tight sales race, with Mercedes leading BMW by only 5,221 sales so far this year (BMW won the sales crown last year).

A memo to Mercedes dealers was recently leaked, showing that Mercedes is offering special discounts of up to $5,000 on the 2012 GL-Class SUV, $750 on the C-Class, $2,250 for the E-Class, $3,000 for the GLK-Class and $3,275 for the S-Class (including the 2013 model). But there's one catch: these discounts are only being offered to "VIP customers". It's not clear what constitutes a VIP customer, but Mercedes is leaving that up to the discretion of the dealership's general manager - which means you should be able to snag these discounts if you contact enough dealers (tip: Use the RydeShopper to find the best deals).

In addtion to the cash incentives, Mercedes is also offering a five-payment lease pull-ahead promotion which lets current Mercedes owners skip five payments if they buy or lease any 2012 or 2013 Mercedes through MB Financial Services.

All in all, it's a great time to be shopping for a luxury brand vehicle right now. The manufacturers are very motivated to sell out the remaining leftover models, and try to win the sales race this year.