Quote:
Originally Posted by tennmb  Perhaps the biggest problem is marketing vehicles like the A and B under the Mercedes Star. They don't blend with the rest of the brand for sure. But, at least the A and B are distinct from the BMW and Audi and offer things those others can't. couldn't Mercedes simply sell the A and B under a new brand name, "available at Mercedes dealers"? Toyota did it with Scion. Create a new brand, but don't incur any start up costs. |
Thing is that
small premium cars or even "premium hatches" are becoming the in-thing in Europe.
I many congested European cities where parking spaces are hard to find these cars do extremely well with wealthy consumers who want a premium cars / badge that is not only fuel efficient but highly versatile and practical. I know many wealthy people in Munich for example who drive A-/B-Classes, BMW 1-Series or Audi A3's and they could easily afford say an S-Class etc. In a lot of cases, some people might already own a fullsize premium sedan from Audi, BMW or Mercedes but require an efficient city car for their use and that's where the small premium cars from these three make their impact.
Also, Mercedes' needed to go RWD in order to compete with the Audi A4 (Quattro) and especially the BMW 118i as the current A-Class with its FWD setup isn't much of a challenger against both cars (the B-Class is a landyacht in terms of handling).
I order to achieve better fuel economy, I don't think the extra weight of the RWD setup will play a negative role. Newer and more efficient engines are going to be designed and hopefully Mercedes can make the A- and B-Classes loose some weight as they're incredibly "heavy" for a car of its size and class.