German Car Zone

Yep. also here in our country MB cars were:
a) executive cars (for driving CEOs & politicians around)
b) snobberish cars - for older & established rich men & their wives


While BMW cars were:
a) escort cars in protocol (security service was driving in BMW cars)
b) "official" mafia car
c) cars for especially young business people who become rich "over night"
d) for driving enthusiasts who had money (the other ones bought Alfa Romeos)

Today Audi is getting almost all the MB & BMW roles:
a) executive cars
b) official mafia cars
c) escort cars
d) typical nouveau-riche cars

While BMW & MB cars are being bought by MB & BMW brand fans ...

We can say MB & BMW are in crisis here ...

I am quite skeptic about that, too! Audi is doing really good here. But i see very few MBs on the streets than i did some years ago. At least BMW does good enough.

As for escort cars and staff, i don't know, since we don't have so many, but 95% of the diplomats here own BMWs, and the prime minister's escort cars are two A4s. He has an old 7er. (the previous model from the pre-fc last one)

That is probably for the US, in Asia or specifically in Hong Kong for example, buy luxury pretty much means buy Mercedes or BMW (and maybe Lexus too), Audi is viewed somehow as a second choice...
In where i live, again MB/BMW/Audi are the luxury choices, so what's wrong with Americans thinking BMW is not luxury?

if we are only talking about top end Sclass/7series, then i'm not surprised 75% dont prefer a BMW because, the Sclass is just simply better... in Hong Kong, most of the 7series sold in the recent year are based on strong discounts...

S class is "simply better" or is it that people over 50 years old (who usually are well established businessmen or pensioners with lots of money to spend) prefer Mercedes cause BMW and Audi weren't so popular back when they were young some decades ago?

In the UK everyone talks badly about BMW owners. The image of the brand is complex to say the least.

The only bad thing about BMW recently is the look of them... i mean what is 'the perfect looking' bmw out there now? although i'm a fan, i have to say none (in my point of view), athough every one of them drives perfectly!

Older people buy cars with more rational reasons hence I don't believe brand is much of a influence for them. Just like in Finland, new cheap Korean cars are selling good and it's usually older couples inside when I see them, younger people drive burn-out BMW coupes imported from Germany with fake mileages.

I was trying to think of a car that always makes a good impression, one that everybody agrees shows a degree of taste and style, but also of modesty and a some dignity.

I thought the VW Golf GTI ....but then thought it might be too "boy-racer-ish" ...and we all know how unpopular they are with people.


I thought maybe the Land-Rover Defender makes a good impression for many -- it's a serious off-roader that isn't bought as some kind of poser-mobile (sadly like the Mercedes G class has become, for many, in recent times)
But then, so many people hate SUVs these days + the Defender lacks the G class' stylishness.


And so IMO, the vehicle that always makes a good impression, guaranteed to never offend anybody, must be the Audi A6. It is very difficult to stereotype the typical A6 driver. It is a car that anyone could own ...and nobody would assume much about you. You could go to the market in one, or be chauffeured to your grand country house in it -- it is a car that is comfortable with almost any social group.

Probably a little bit of both. The new S-class is probably better one until the BMW 7er and the Audi 8 series cars come up with their latest and the greatest. Other than that the S-class is undeniably amongst the best in it's class always.

And yes, I do think that people over 50 have a higher regard for Mercedes because of it's consistent and constant status of being a very very good car.
It's been like that ever since the history of cars started.
Those people remember the BMWs of the late fifties and the DKWs of pre-1960 for the Audi cars. Those cars were certainly not in the same class as the MBs. In fact they were somewhere towards the the bottom end of the scale. So I think for the over 50s in general, the MBs are a permanent member of the elite whereas the Audis and the BMWs still need to earn their spot amongst the elite. Although I must say that the attitude I just presented is disappearing fast because both Audis and BMWs have been producing great cars for a long time now. But not long enough for those old enough to remember those uncomplimentary models as well.

I agree with this statement, and the history issue that I alluded to above may be a contributing factor to this, although by no means the only factor.

I have to agree with a lot of what you said, but...

BMW while making entry level Isettas/600s and 700s have also made elite expensive cars. And that was actually the problem, some BMWs were even more expensive that MBs.

And since these cars couldn't win races (unlike pre war models, witch meant no publicity), and europeans couldn't afford them, and were also too pricey, they failed (in the eyes of the american public).

Also you have to keep in mind that MB also made some entry level cars like the 170V and 170D, and unlike BMW they had a higly profitable commercial vehicle division.

Now contrary to popular american beliefs that BMWs greatness started with cars such as the 2002, "New Sixes" and later 70s cars (3er, 5er, 6er, 7er) it's simply not true, in Europe at least.

In the 60s BMWs research came up with some interesting results. People would still remeber BMW for its cars of the 1930s (328, 327, 326 and even 335).
So Paul G. Hahnemann and Bernt Spiegel came up with a niche teory witch would safeguard BMW future.
BMW could equall and perhaps surpass their glory days of the late 1930s if they would create cars diferent in some ways from MB and similar in some ways to the cars of the 1930 for witch BMW was best known. And the 328 and 327/28 were known (especially the 328) for handling. Eventually with the influence of Max Hoffman this would lead to the 2002 and "New Sixes".

And the rest is history.

Enjoy some pictures of BMWs from the 50s and early 60s:


















And the cars of the 30s that people remebered.

the 327





the 328






the 326