German Car Zone

Whoa whoa whoa, I never said I don't wear a seat belt. I wear it all the time. I was just bringing up some rare examples against it. Moss didn't wear one because he didn't want to get trapped and burned, in the end he was trapped, but luckily not burned.
Maybe there was someone looking out for the pastor and his three sons

No worries, man - the figures on seat belt usage (or rather non-usage) in the US specifically are rather alarming however...

That strategy hasn't served Volvo all that well.

Mercedes is always at its best when it is leading, not following.
Regarding marketing. Mercedes seems to be in a state of confusion, even though it has very good products. Never in my 11+ years selling MB, has MB asked me, "what would help you sell our cars?" We talk to the most important people. The ones who buy, and the ones who don't. We know why a person chooses a Lexus over a Mercedes. We know where we are missing the market. Does MB ask? Not that I can tell.

I am speaking of the US here. Mercedes has done a poor job of knowing the market. They have also missed some critical points in the market.

Example: E-class starts at $50k
The S-class starts at $90k

Buyers have to make a $40k leap to go from mid sized to full-sized.
Guess who sits conveniently positioned in the middle of that price gap? Lexus. You can get a full sized car for $65-$75.

Can you get a standard wheel base S-class in the US? Nope. Mercedes doesn't even have to design or build a new car to capture market share. All they have to do is look at the market, and import what they already make. And they pay people millions to figure this stuff out.

Another example.
Diesel appeals to the buyer concerned with economy and efficiency.
You can't buy a diesel sedan in the US for less than $55k. Does that fit the profile of a diesel buyer? Not most of them. Now Audi, BMW and Volvo have plunged into the US market with diesel. Where is Mercedes? Sitting back, scratching their hind quarters trying to figure out how to get more sales in a tough economy. In a tough economy you must emphasize the more cost conservative offerings in your product line. Have they? Not that I can tell.
And somebody is getting paid millions.

^For a Mercedes-Benz Salesperson you sure have a lot of issues with how they do business. You probably have a much better view of Benz then we do, but it seems so negative.

I wouldn't say they changed it. They just may include safety more often.

Here's how benzblogger expressed it:


"If you ask most people which car company was the first to use seat belts, airbags, and electronic stability systems in their cars they would probably credit another European automaker that is always hyping their safety. Since a Mercedes-Benz is so much more than just the safest car on the road, their rich history of pioneering safety innovations is often overlooked. We invented airbags, crash testing, stability control and now Attention Assist all with the goal of first, preventing the accident, and then keeping you safe from injury if it can't be prevented."


Mercedes Benz | Atlanta Classic Cars | Jesse Cannon-Wallace

tennmb

Interesting. Originally there was supposed to be a S450 along with the S550, but then the Lexus LS460 happened. I think Mercedes did it exactly right by not offering the underpowered S450 along side the more powerful A8, 7-Series and LS. They all would have cost the same or less and had more power. Mercedes took the high road with the S550 offering more or the same power than those cars and a bigger price. Buyers looking for a S-Class had only one choice, and they had to choose the S550 and they did. It was worth the premium over the LS460 and the previous 7-Series.

Now since the W221 has been out a few years I'd say bring over the S450 to sit in that price gulf between the E and the S-Class. Problem is 335hp hp in such a car (as in the GL450) is not enough anymore. Notice how W220 S430 got beat pillar to post, but W220 S500 almost never did and when it did face down the previous LS430 it won. Now if Mercedes would get with the program and offer DI on the V8s (and V6s) they'd be able to see a 365hp S450 and a 400+ hp S550 and the S450 wouldn't be seen as such a weakling.

That price gulf isn't as big as you make it out to be either. Yes the E-Class starts at 50K, but there is a E550 in there and it can run 70K with everything. More like 20-25K between where the non-AMG E tops out and the S-Class starts. Who looks at a base E-Class and think they're going to get a "full size" Mercedes for less than 30K more. Buyer is more or less cluess in that regard IMO.

Lexus the example you use pays a price for having the LS so close to their mid-size car, the GS. Look at the GS' sales. They have never, ever been anything. They're in the toilet a year after each new generation of the car comes out. It isn't worth the money, Lexus buyers don't buy sporty (which it really isn't, but tries to be) and thus they get a SWB LS460 for only about 10-12K more, hardly a S550 buyer. Would they buy an imaginary S450? Maybe, maybe not.

I do agree that Mercedes is falling behind in the diesel race. A diesel GLK and C-Class should have been added for 2010. As I see more 335ds on the road I'm convinced of that Mercedes needs to engage that market asap. The new 4-clyinder diesel would be perfect IMO.

Mercedes is also behind in Direct Injection. Every other luxury car maker (except Infiniti) has this feature now. BMW, Audi, Cadillac, Lincoln, Acura, Porsche etc. have it. Something really funny is going on if Mercedes says it can't use the gasoline here and all the others can.

M

MB needs to make more commercials like this.

YouTube - Mercedes Benz S-class Commercial

It's a great ad; even though it doesn't talk much about safety.

Last I heard, BMW was having trouble moving 335d's off their lots. This might have put on hold any plans for other manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz to bring over some of their European diesels.


How would a C-Class diesel fare in the US? I'm getting mixed signals here with all the C300 and C350 bashing all over the Internet from a performance point of view. As a European I find nothing wrong with the performance of these two cars. A C250 CDI sounds like a good deal for the US, but then again I'm already wondering how Car and Driver will rip it apart because a 4-cylinder Camry is faster and costs less...

I think the C250 would sell great in the US. Performance is not bad, mixed with over 40mpg. It would outsell the 350 and maybe 300.