BMW trumps Mercedes with 1st 4-seat Luxury folding hard top
Is Mercedes too late for the party??? We have been begging Mercedes to offer the CLK Cabriolet with a folding hardtop for years. I would not be surprised to see CLK Cabriolet orders drop like flies if Mercedes doesn't finally wake-up and offer a 4 seat folding hardtop convertible that can compete with the new BMW 3 Series model that should begin production in December and be in the showrooms by March 2007. (P.S. Hint to Mercedes marketing ---- insist that the Mercedes include 4-MATIC as an available option. Of course the new 3 series BMW Coupe upon which the convertible is based already has all wheel drive as an available option while Mercedes is lagging in that department as well for the CLK coupe.) It also looks like a sunroof feature (as available on only the EOS to date) or at least a panoramic see-through roof will be included to emphasize a positioning above Volvo's midrange folding hardtop offering.
Here is an attempt to link the article and photos as posted on 8/17/06:
Hmmm...is it just me, or does the streamlining remind you a lot of the Ford Mustang? The wheels are so small that I'm also reminded of a Toyota Prius.
I highly doubt that Mercedes CLK Cabriolet orders will drop like flies, considering most Benz owners are loyal to the brand (even though they own other brands as well). However your suggestions for offering 4-MATIC and folding hard top 4 seater are very valid and should be taken into consideration by Mercedes's designers. If only they read this forum.
I don't understand why a hardtop is such a big deal. Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bentley, Porsche and, yes--BMW in its 6 series--all have softops. Pretty good company, I'd say. Hardtops add weight, expense, and limit trunk space even more. The CLK competes with the 6 series, not the 3 series anyway. It's a matter of personal taste but to me the 6 series looks like a fat lima bean with a duck-billed platypus rear end. Autoweek reports it suffers from cowl shake, which my 6 year old CLK cabrio has never done. A Volvo? good luck. If you live in the north country and drive a convertible two weeks a year with the top down, get an SLK or SL, a Lexus SC or Cadillac XLR if it's that important to have a hardtop.
Have there really been scores of people clamoring Mercedes-Benz for CLKs with folding hardtops? If so, who (or what department) at MB is being contacted?
I just think it is one of the ugliest cars ever to reach the market. Something to equal the 6 series in the ugly-bug stakes. Yuk.
Actually, I've just looked at the pictures again and have to admit that my initial dislike has now been replaced by a deep loathing. It looks as though a school project asked fourteen children to design a different bit each. And the prizewinner was......
The new BMW is really ugly...those tiny little tires make it look like the back springs are broken? I would love a folding hardtop CLK (4 seats), anyone who lives in Canada barely ever gets to drop the top, so the 5 days a year when the weather is nice will not worth living in a soft top (frozen lid) all winter.
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