They should have just stoped that thing before it happened, period. And shouldn't have made that big of a fuss in the first place.
The debate Volvo vs. MB is long and pointless. The simple matter is Volvo beat MB in the positioning of the brand.
IBM is THE computer company, but they did not invented the computer, nor were they the first on the market with a computer (be it the mainframe, micro, or personal computer). They positioned themseves as the computer company.
Like so Volvo positioned themselves as THE Safety Car Company since the late '50s. So here is the catch, MB is wasting time and money trying to ocupy a slot that is already taken. In the minds of people this uber fuss about safety from MB does not give people the idea -great I'll the super safest car the MB-, what it does is create confusion, is tells the -MB = Volvo (clone)- .

But now we're really off topic.

HAHA man their marketing as the safest brans is a lie.. a good one.. and a good move..
anyone that knows anything about cars knows that MB has better safety..

er..........10 years ago may be.............

*** are u smoking? MB just wasting money? by creating pretty much every safety innovation out there......they were first to fit airbags, abs, esp, er....presafe....er....distronic....er....crumple zones.....er....seat belt tensioners even i think......so er....volvo....yea tell us about volvo...please i would love to hear....the only safety thing i have seen about volvo is them rolling one of their cars off a cliff....and i don't know really what safety feature that was meant to describe...

I don't know how Mercs are percieved in Europe as far as safety. I do know here in the U.S. they are still regarded as 'tanks' when it comes to safety, especially the older ones.

I don't know what you're talking about here. Mercedes has positioned themselves as the safety brand since the 50's also. Are you forgetting who pioneered crumple zones, ABS and other things? To say Mercedes isn't known for safety is ridiculous. Mercedes isn't trying to "position" themselves as the safety company, they're already there! Along with Volvo. When it comes to safety these two are mentioned more often than any of the others who have come lately to the caring about safety.

For the last time....the test you speak of was conducted by a MAGAZINE, not Mercedes. Mercedes didn't raise any fuss about it, the MEDIA did after the test failed. That whole episode was not of Mercedes' doing. If someone wants to go out and do an idiotic test of Mercedes' cars without their permission MB can't "stop" them. I can buy a Mercedes or rent one and do whatever I want with it, Mercedes has absolutely no control over that.

At this point it seems you're just MB bashing as usual because you're not making any sense and you're grosely ignoring the FACTS.

M

God I'm loosing my mind in here.

No MB positioned thenselves as the "engineered like no other" company, Volvo positioned themselves as "The Safety Company" (until the '90s), BMW positioned themselves as "Ultimate Driving Machine"(/"Sheer Driving Pleasure"/ "Joy of Driving").

People (the majority) percive Mercedes Benz cars as (very) safe. But when you say safety (+ cars) the (first) thing that comes to people's minds is Volvo, not MB.

The fact that MB pioneered crumple zones, ABS and other things is irelevant, just as irelevent as who pineered the 3 pointed safety belt the ESP and whatever safety device.
Perception is Reality, that is how things work for most people. The fact is that we around here are entusiats and think and know things others don't.

I don't know where you're from, but Mercedes is most definitely throught of as being a safe car and one of, if not the leader in safety, again right along with Volvo. To say Mercedes isn't thought of as a safe car or a safety minded company and to say all their many advances in safety are irrelevant is totally ridiculous. In the U.S. Mercedes is known for safety just as much as they are for their "engineering". I suspect this is the case everywhere else, except for your neighborhood.

REGULAR people look at Mercedes as a safety leader also, you can ask anyone on the street this! Totally absurd to even think otherwise!

It is a tossup depending on who you ask, Volvo isn't always the first name to come to mind for Joe Regular walking down the street!

M

I never said MB wasn't a safety leader.

Wrong, that that's Volvo's position. MB is (very) safe, Volvo= (incarnation of)
Safety.


I never said that.
People do not know how many safety feature a car has, who inveted them and how do they work. They just know a car is safe.

MB "engineering" implied among others safety too, not just quality and technological inovation.
And MB is known for safety in my neighborhood too.

I never said otherwise.

It's true. Volvo isn't the first name to come to mind for Joe Regular walking down the street, but it is so when you mention safety. T
That unless we are talking about a biased MB fan.

This whole debate and your stance is pointless. It doesn't really matter who is thought of being the safesty in the grand scheme of things, people who know cars know that a Mercedes stands for safety, among other things. Period.

M

I could say yours is.
Just about everybody knows MB stands for safety among other things. But Volvo stands for safety first and foremost .
It does matter who is thought of being the safesty in the grand scheme of things. Because that is their position (Volvo) in the heads of the people the main reason that helps them sell their cars.