I disagree somewhat . . . totally different for the US, since the A and B Class have been selling in the rest of the world, including Canada, for years. The jury is still out whether the car will hurt the "luxury" branding here in the US, but I think of it as a way of breaking out of that box by offering quality products across a wider range of buyers. The "luxury" thing in the US has prevented us from getting manual transmissions, diesels, and estates. It has also linked Mercedes-Benz with an image of being for the AARP demographic.