German Car Zone

The rivalry between BMW and Mercedes-Benz dates back to 1959. On December 9, Daimler-Benz tried, via the Deutsche Bank, to take over BMW, which was on the brink of bankruptcy. But the minor shareholders, the dealers, and the unionized workforce prevented the takeover at the eleventh hour. Over the next few years, the Quandt family bought a majority stake in BMW, but even with fresh cash, it took the company until the early 1970s to establish a truly competitive model range. From that point to the present day, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have been fighting each other in the marketplace. Instead of aiming at gaps in the enemy's product portfolio, each would invariably challenge the other head-on. The current lineup still reflects this eternal duel: 1-series vs. A/B-class, 3-series vs. C-class, 5-series vs. E-class, 6-series vs. SL, 7-series vs. S-class, X3 vs. GLK, X5 vs. ML, Z4 vs. SLK, Mini vs. Smart, M division vs. AMG, Rolls-Royce vs. Maybach, BMW Sauber vs. McLaren-Mercedes. Both makes ventured downmarket by teaming up with a volume brand, and both failed: while the Bavarians almost went under together with Rover, the Swabians can still feel the aftermath of the Chrysler debacle. BMW hasn't followed its rival into trucks and buses, and Mercedes has steered clear of motorcycles.

Strangely, neither firm recognized the importance of hybrids until recently. In the small-car segment, BMW has been arguably more successful than Mercedes with its pricey and prestigious Mini brand. The opposing Smart brand has only the rear-engine ForTwo, which is still dynamically flawed. The ForFour sedan and the roadster/coupe were quickly withdrawn due to slow sales, and the proposed ForMore never saw the light of day. In 2012, BMW will launch the supergreen Project i family to form its third satellite (after Mini and Rolls-Royce), while Mercedes is currently looking for a partner (Peugeot? Renault-Nissan?) that will develop, build, and share the still-tentative next-generation Smart microcar.


Full (short) Story: Automobile Magazine - FEATURES: Great Rivalries: Mercedes Benz vs BMW


M

Oh how I wish Mercedes-Benz could have successfully taken BMW over then!

Hmmm...So the 6 series and SL are competitors??? That's news to me considering the 6 series is really just a 5 series coupe, but slightly up market (and lacks the SL's V12 option choice). Thought it was more of a CLS competitior. Then again that's just my IMO.

In that case the E coupe would be a 6-series competitor, but the E coupe is just a C-class, slightly up market

I have never really seen the 6-series as an SL competitor, they are a bit too different in execution.

It should be, but then again Mercedes-Benz has left that job CLS.

When it was released, the CLS had no competition.

Wow, I didn't know people bought the ForTwo for handling reasons!!!

Yes, I would say it's a rivalry. If not the companies, then the fans. No matter where you go, BMW and MB fans are always at it (not physical fighting but the "my car is better then yours"). I remember a few years ago, I was a the DC AUTO SHOW. Everyone was surrounding the brand new Maybach (and this was before the Phantom showed up). They had the Maybach opened and playing that 21 speaker sound system and everyone was drooling over it. Then comes to BMW fans just boasting about how a 7 series is better. Not to mention I have seen this several times before at car driving events and other automotive events. These to car companies will always be "Arch Rivals" as several media outlets have pointed out. Same thing could be said for Honda vs. Toyota, Lincoln vs. Cadillac or Lamborghini vs. Ferrari. They all have competiting products, which automaticially makes them competitors aka rivals.


Also, I have always considered Mercedes-Benz to focus more on Luxury and Safety and where as BMW focused on Luxury and Sport.

People interpret it differently, but to me it was never a real rivalry. I call it "peaceful coexistence".

A BMW always stood for one thing, a Mercedes for another thing.

True, but their product plans are litterally carried out at each others headquarters. Mercedes does something BMW follows and vice versa. Mercedes and BMW is a big a rivalry as Ford and Chevy.

M