To say that rich folks don't know that the Maybach is a Mercedes is absolutely correct. I live in a pretty nice area of SoCal and my neighbor had rented a limo for the night. She got a Maybach 62 but later complained to me that she had wanted an S Class Mercedes. She had not a clue that the Maybach was a Mercedes. She had never heard of a Maybach and didn't like the way it looked. I wanted to throttle her....lol...because as a very rich woman.....she was clueless.
Back to the article with Dr. Zetsche. He said he was seriously considering reigning in the Maybach and Smart brands and badging them with the star on the trunk. I think it would definitely help sales. What do you guys think?[/quote]
I think that would be a sensible thing to do.
There was a pretty amusing thread running on the General MB forum entitled " Maybach has no history". Well, clearly Wilhelm Maybach made a significant contribution to the development of Gottlieb Daimler`s DMG and Maybach Motoren was building ultra luxury motors in the late twenties and early thirties which Mercedes was incapable of matching. But for all that, whilst Maybach might have history it has none that is of any real commercial value as a brand and I am sure that is one of the reasons why the the cars are not selling.
Throughout the last 15 years Mercedes Benz has consistently featured in the top ten most valuable brands in the world.
I can understand Toyota creating Lexus but I cannot understand why the oldest and one of the most prestigious car manufacturers in the world felt the need to differentiate it`s top offering from the mainstream product.
After all DB built buses, trucks and taxis but the wealthy still bought it`s convertibles,coupes and limousines.
I don`t see any difference between a 600 Pullman and it`s spiritual successor the Maybach 62. Time to bring it into the fold. Perhaps MM should be restyled Mercedes Maybach.
the main argument is why can't mercedes use itself for Maybach...
the reason is they are made themselves appear too commonplace, creating
models competing with minivans/suvs.. Does BMW/AUDI have a minivan ?
They need to re-gain their image as a premium automaker. e.g.
make fewer , well built models like the C/E/S and charge exboriant
prices . Then the value of the Star goes up, and then they can use it instead
of the Maybach.
Mercedes, has a history that people know readily its been around for 127 yrs.
Just like Rolls-Royce, which I said they should buy the rights to which would be
juts as good. The sad fact is Dr. Z is more about profits and bottom line that really
caring what the people want...
no you miss the point...
the reason is they are made themselves appear too commonplace, creating
models competing with minivans/suvs.. Does BMW/AUDI have a minivan ?
They need to re-gain their image as a premium automaker. e.g.
make fewer , well built models like the C/E/S and charge exboriant
prices
*i agree.
way too many different models now.
they could drop the following and increase their reputation overnight:
A-Class (hideous, no charm, buy a Smart ForFour instead)
B-Class (dear god what were they thinking)
C-Class Sport Coupe (about as appealing as a BMW 3-Compact)
CL-Class (just too bland to compete with AM, Bentley & Ferrari GTs)
CLK-Class (time for a rethink - a proper E-Class coupe please)
ML-Class (the G still rules. deal with it.)
GL-Class (Ditto)
R-Class (i don't even think MB themselves believe the hype for this SUV/Minivan/Limo monstrosity)
The stars of the show remain the CLS and the S-Class.
*this is all, of course, just my opinion
__________________ '93 W201 Euro 1.8 • 568 Signalrot • 16x8J Evolutions W201 ROTM February 2007
*i agree.
way too many different models now.
they could drop the following and increase their reputation overnight:
A-Class (hideous, no charm, buy a Smart ForFour instead)
B-Class (dear god what were they thinking)
C-Class Sport Coupe (about as appealing as a BMW 3-Compact)
CL-Class (just too bland to compete with AM, Bentley & Ferrari GTs)
CLK-Class (time for a rethink - a proper E-Class coupe please)
ML-Class (the G still rules. deal with it.)
GL-Class (Ditto)
R-Class (i don't even think MB themselves believe the hype for this SUV/Minivan/Limo monstrosity)
The stars of the show remain the CLS and the S-Class.
*this is all, of course, just my opinion
I agree with all of them except the GL, the GL won motor trend truck of the year. ML is necessary to compete with the X5/lexus suv
I agree with all of them except the GL, the GL won motor trend truck of the year. ML is necessary to compete with the X5/lexus suv
But then using your logic, we'd need the CLK to compete with the 3-Series coupe, A- and B-Class to compete with 1-Series, C-Class to compete with 3-Series, CL-Class to compete with....well they don't really have one, except for maybe the AM V8 Vantage....and the CL is the other MB flagship, can't get rid of that.
We could do without the R-Class, in the mean time.
I think a proper 2-door C-Class coupe (the same length as the sedan, with a similar trunk) would deal with the competition from the 3-series. The CLK seems to be neither C-Class or E-Class, but a size in between. I don't think they'd have called it the ELK!
The BMW 1-series is an embarrassment, a car created to fill a niche that doesn't actually exist. No need for MB to 'compete' with that.
As for the ML being required to compete with the X5 & Lexus, my original point was that the G-Wagen has never, ever been touched by any other SUV in terms of build quality, design purity and strength of image. It remains an imaginative choice in a world full of jelly-mould 'soft-roaders'. Why dilute the brand with the ML?
I think a proper 2-door C-Class coupe (the same length as the sedan, with a similar trunk) would deal with the competition from the 3-series. The CLK seems to be neither C-Class or E-Class, but a size in between. I don't think they'd have called it the ELK!
The BMW 1-series is an embarrassment, a car created to fill a niche that doesn't actually exist. No need for MB to 'compete' with that.
As for the ML being required to compete with the X5 & Lexus, my original point was that the G-Wagen has never, ever been touched by any other SUV in terms of build quality, design purity and strength of image. It remains an imaginative choice in a world full of jelly-mould 'soft-roaders'. Why dilute the brand with the ML?
Sooo...I'm a little confused.
Are you saying that the X5 and RX were made to compete with the G-Wagen, and that they shouldn't exist because they can't touch the G-Wagen? Thus leading to the demise of the ML since the X5 and RX wouldn't exist..
AsianML, i think you're probably going to be insulted by my opinion.
I really don't like the ML, it's very ugly, cheap-looking and badly made compared to the G-Wagen. I won't ever understand why MB chose to develop it alongside the updates made to the G-Wagen. Most SUVs are pathetic off-roaders, and bought as status symbols.
Ironically, for a car bought to 'show off', they're among the most vulgar, badly designed cars on the road.
The X5 has proven itself as a capable performance car on the road, but suffers from a big image problem in that it's a completely pointless car bought amost exclusively by vacuous posers. a 4WD 5-Series Touring would be more useful, and has more load space, better visibility and higher performance.
AsianML, i think you're probably going to be insulted by my opinion.
I really don't like the ML, it's very ugly, cheap-looking and badly made compared to the G-Wagen. I won't ever understand why MB chose to develop it alongside the updates made to the G-Wagen. Most SUVs are pathetic off-roaders, and bought as status symbols.
Ironically, for a car bought to 'show off', they're among the most vulgar, badly designed cars on the road.
The X5 has proven itself as a capable performance car on the road, but suffers from a big image problem in that it's a completely pointless car bought amost exclusively by vacuous posers. a 4WD 5-Series Touring would be more useful, and has more load space, better visibility and higher performance.
Now the Audi RS6 Avant, there's a car!
No offense taken. The ML was made to create a new segment that no one was a part of yet. A luxury SUV. The G-Wagen is a luxury SUV, however it's a hardcore off-roader first, luxury SUV second. The ML is second, luxury SUV first, semi-off roader second.
It's also been a pretty successful model as well.
The 5-Series Touring, while very nice......isn't a model that I like. I like the handling of a sports car, while having the high driving position and visibility of an SUV, the X5 is perfect.
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