I was talking with a friend (works for GE) about if large companies have a complete design philosophy for everything they build. He said yes, it mostly comes down to figuring out what the customer thinks they need, and how much they pay for it. (notice here it is the customer's percieved need, not what the designers think will be the _best_ design)

If Benz has decided that america is the primary market, and they employ this philosophy, the cars will be under-designed in comparison to their old quality. Customers have nobody but themselves to blame, but they sure do squeal about it...

Price vs. Quality for the w114, the 190e, and the c class. Is the new c-class less expensive than the w114 was? In the american market, I bet so...

cheers,
dan r.

+1 for thread of the week