Lots of interesting posts about the SLR.

I think Mercedes needs to do a more track-biased version. Lighter weight, more power and proper 6 speed manual. This version doesn't have to replace the basic version, but be sold along side it. I can't understand why they saddled the SLR with an automatic only. On regular Mercedes models like the SLK55 AMG what not it has been argued since the beginning of time whether or not MB should offer a manual, also for a car like the C55, but on the SLR it should have been part of the project. Surely the budget was there on a 400K+ car!

M

Several decades from now the SLR will be six feet under, in some old German dudes garage. Only to be discorvered when we're peeing in bags, rolling around in wheel chairs, and we'll hear of an SLR discovered by one of our grandkids... the next gazillionaires.

Don't know if it has been posted already.


McLaren May Increase F-1 Spending on Sales of $450,000 SLR Car
2005-11-29 06:45 (New York)


By Alex Duff
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The McLaren-Mercedes Formula One
team, seeking its first title since 1999, may increase spending after selling 1,000 road cars at $450,000 each, the team's co-owner Ron Dennis said.
The sales, and orders for 600 more, of the Mercedes-Benz
SLR McLaren sports car outstripped those of Ferrari SpA's Enzo Ferrari and Porsche AG's Carrera GT, making it the top-selling so-called supercar, Dennis said. McLaren, which also built a road car in the 1990s, is emulating Ferrari in selling vehicles that are partly based on Formula One designs.
``It's already considered to be a great success,'' Dennis
said in a phone interview. ``It means we have the option of
spending more in Formula One, if we so choose.''
McLaren and DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's fifth-largest
carmaker which has a 40 percent stake in the team, invested
about $200 million in the two-seater. Production began last
year. They are considering making a soft-top version and expect total sales to top 2,000, Dennis said, adding they are planning a new model to succeed it at an unspecified time. ``The end of the life-cycle is difficult to predict,'' Dennis, 58, said.
Ferrari said its 660,000-euro ($779,920) Enzo Ferrari car
was only intended as a limited-edition vehicle and all 400 were sold. Porsche's press office didn't respond to calls seeking comment about sales of its $440,000 GT.
McLaren rose to second from fifth in the Formula One
constructors' championship last season, when its driver Kimi
Raikkonen won eight of 19 races to come second behind Renault's Fernando Alonso.

Team Budget

The McLaren team's budget of $359.3 million lags only
Ferrari and Toyota, F1 Racing estimated in its April edition.
Formula One ruling body Federation Internationale de
l'Automobile said Sept. 13 it wants to slash the budgets of top teams to as little as $120 million by 2008.
The SLR car has a top speed of 208 miles (334.6 kilometers)
per hour and goes from 0-60 m.p.h. in 3.8 seconds, with the
supercharged 5.5-liter V8 engine generating 626 horse-power.
Its chassis features gull-wing doors and is made at McLaren's headquarters in Woking, southern England.
A Barcelona-based luxury-car importer, who declined to be
identified, said driving the car was ``like being in your
office, it's so smooth,'' adding that he'd driven at its top
speed on the A6 highway near Leon, Spain.
The next Formula One season starts in Bahrain on March 12.
Mika Hakkinen took the last of McLaren's 11 driving titles in 1999.

Now thats incredible!! the SLR beating the Ferreri Enzo and Porsche CGT is sales. The SLR appears to be another success story for Mercedes-Benz
Great article BTW!

Enzo and CGT is build in limited edition.

EDIT: it even says in the article that Enzo only where built in 400 examples.

Though the sales are good, pointing out that it outsold the Enzo and CGT is meaningless because those cars aren't regular models - they're one-offs with a 1-2 year production schedule of 400 and 1500 units respectively. The SLR is supposed to outsells them because it is a regular lineup car that is going to have a production run of 5-7 years like any other Mercedes. I'm actually surprised that they've sold 1000 units, that pretty good considering all the bad press Mercedes got during the time the car was launched. Has it outsold the Maybach in units sold so far? An interesting thing if it has.

That said, this is what I like to read about concerning Mercedes-Benz - good news! Yeah lets do the soft-top version and the lightweight version with more power...hell yeah. They'll sell all of the originally proposed 3500 units quite easily then for sure. Can you imagine an SLR Roadster! Hot, hot, hot. While they're increasing the F1 budget they should earmark a few dollars to develop a good-old-fashioned manual tranny for the SLR also. The tranny can be used (modified) in the C55 and SLK55 also. Not sure if there is a market for a manual in other AMG cars, I know there isn't in the S/CL/SL cars.

All of this makes me wonder what we'll see from Mercedes once they start making enough money again to fund these high-end projects. Just think if Mercedes wins the F1 championship next year, this will add a sheen to the Mercedes-Benz brand not seen in years! Will make the SLR more relevant too.

Hell while we're increasing budgets, let do a limited production (500 units) C63 as we say goodbye to the current C-Class sometime in the next 18 months!

Ok I'm done frothing about this news, forgive me I got carried away!

M

Thats true. But even with unlimited production, the CGT isn't going well as expected.
What I've read was a statement of Porsche CEO Wiedeking that the limit of 1500 cars is not reached. Currently are arround 1100-1200 sold or preordered ( I have this statement from rennteam.com, don't ask me about the link ).

I thought that the CGT would be sold out within short time, but that's not the case.

wait and see. its not over yet cause its still for sale? but 1200 is more than I expected Porsche would sell.

anyway, I heard that there was a big demand for Enzo. Thats why they raised to 400 examples cause at the beginning 400 wasnt planned. So noone knows how many Enzos would be sold if it wasnt a limited edition.

Fisrt of all when discussing these super cars sales number don't have much of a signifigance since these machines aren't cars as we know them, these machines are pieces of art and collectors items. The manufacturers don't build these cars in order to makes as much profits as possible from. They build them to strengthen their brands and for prestige.

My second opinion is that 1000-1200 is a damn god number for the CGT, the car isn't a Gallardo or a SL55 which are cars that can be afforded buy a huge percentage of people. The CGT is ultra expensive and only enthusiasts with real money. Lets not either forget that this is a very competitive segment consisting of the Enzo, CGT, SLR, Koieggseig(spelling) and the Zonda. There for we can not expect 1000-1500 to be sold right away. Ferrari didn't seem to want the Enzo hanging around in dealerships around the world and therefor made a great move buy only producing 400 Enzo car.

Every Enzo was pretty much sold in advance before they finished production. I agree that there needs to be a more hardcore driving version of the SLR. Drop boost the power, drop the weight with the new AMG V8, improve the suspension and give it a real 6-Speed. I think the main thing is the weight and the Manual Tranny.

The SLR is alread much lighter than the SL65, but it needs to be even lighter to approach the handling of the Enzo and CGT. Also the automatic is a turn off to many sports car enthusiasts who see a manual as the ONLY proper transmission for a car.

*Sigh* If only McLaren would make that P8...Carbon Fiber, Mid-Engined Goodness with a 6-Speed. Drop that new AMG Light-weight V8 with some Turbos and POW!! F430 killer....

Too bad I'm dreaming....