Mercedes officially Announces 2008 Changes

[manwagon]

In today's Automotive News, Mercedes revealed that the 2008 R Class due in July will have an optional three-person bench middle seat and that a "rear wheel drive" version will be available. The 2008 R Class will also get "freshened" more aggressive AMG-Style bumpers, larger wheels and fog lights to give a "sportier" look.

Sales of the R Class for the first four months of 2007 are down 38 percent from 2006 to 4151 vehicles which Mercedes attributes to the fact that there is still confusion about what the R class is, a crossover, a tall station wagon or a short minivan.

The CEO of Mercedes says that he is not overly concerned with the slump in R-Class sales because buyers are choosing the large GL450 whose sales have "skyrocketed" to 7,838 units for the same time period.

My Take:
While current R sales of around 1,000 per month are nothing to cheer about, the fact is that this vehicle is built in the same plant as the M and GL and represents "incremental" sales without the investment or sales volume that an R-Class "stand alone" plant would require.