Does anyone have a source or know what changes Mercedes plans for the 2008 R Class. (It was reported that at the NADA meeting early in February, when Mercedes met with its dealers, they said there would be "unspecified changes" in the R Class for 2008.)
I had a 2007 R320 CDI on order. Mercedes has canceled May production, so I am having to wait to order a 2008.
I just worked in the MBUSA Dealer meeting in Dallas last week. They discussed scaling back production of the R class. I think they espected to sell 15,000 this year vs 18,000 last year. They did discuss the overal demand for Diesel in the US is strong and how future versions will all be BlueTec. Nothing specific regarding the R class in the presentations, but a number of dealers brought up the R class in regards to resale value.
LV/NV Mark: I am curious if in that meeting MBUSA indicated that the 2008 model R classes would have the "next stage" BlueTec using the urea injection? I had read earlier in the year that Mercedes was going to introduce the diesel urea injection in the SUV vehicles in 2008. But none of those articles ever clarified if they would actually start putting that on the model year 2008 cars produced in mid-2007. (The reason I would love to know this is I would prefer not to have the urea injection. If that is the case, then I may go ahead and compromise my ideal color/option choices and get a 2007 that is in stock.)
FunBenz - Why would you not like the Bluetech with urea injection? what compromise will this be to the car's performance? I am curious because I've just bought an '07 R320 CDI last week.
FunBenz: No they weren't specific.. They did mention the awkwardness of selling Dielels knowing that they will be obsolete when they convert all to Bluetec Diesels. But it was in an informal Q & A, not in the presentations.
"Mercedes is still looking to boost sales of the MPV. UK’s AutoCar is reporting that Mercedes is looking to produce a cheaper version of the R-Class with rear-wheel drive for all markets in order to boost sales. Currently Mercedes-Benz sold an average of 1,514 R-Classes per month in 2006."
The reason I would prefer to not have the urea injection is that would mean I would be getting a new technology that has not been in operation in the field. The current R320 CDI is using emissions technolgy that has a solid record of reliability. I would rather let some other people be the "field test" for this.
"Mercedes is still looking to boost sales of the MPV. UK’s AutoCar is reporting that Mercedes is looking to produce a cheaper version of the R-Class with rear-wheel drive for all markets in order to boost sales. Currently Mercedes-Benz sold an average of 1,514 R-Classes per month in 2006."
Mercedes offering the R Class with just rear wheel drive would make a lot of sense. I think Mercedes has the car about $5,000 (U.S.) overpriced for the core market for this type of vehicle. It is always hard to come back and lower the price of a car; however, they did that after the first year here in the U.S. Offering it without 4-MATIC would give them a way to get the price down.
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