Question for readers??? Due to the diversity of so many model being produce by MB, do any of you guys feel that this will benefit or hurt the company?

In the past other automakers discovered that building to many different model was not a good move which resulted in downsizing the company. Please give some feedback?

DRICHFL

I think its bad, but only because so many of them suck. I mean really, a mercedes minivan? Or 2 soccer mom suvs for that matter? And if they made a CL right and a CLK right and the E right, the CLS needn't exist. But i dont think what I think matters, I will never pay money for an automatic again. The best cars are very specific to a certain structure, mercedes used to be, but now just about every company wants to be everything to everyone. Even porsche now, with a sedan and a suv?

saturn vue= chevy equinox=pontiac version... same platform sharing is a bad idea and offers no unique cars to each brand. reason why the american car companies are failing

The SUV market, and especially the luxury SUV market, was just too lucrative for Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, et al to not get involved. If it wasn't for these vehicles, the 'Big 3' would have lost even more money in recent years. The profits were there because Escalades and Expeditions are based on off-the-shelf truck division parts where the tooling was long-since paid for. Almost no R&D costs, comparitively. All this was true up until Katrina and Rita came to town and brought higher gas prices with them. Those prices have dented the SUV market right at the point where so many manufacturers have finally come to the party with a full line-up of vehicles.

The question here is: has Mercedes, Porsche, and everyone else come to that party too late to make any money from it? If so, that does not bode well for future product offerings of any type. They'll have to recoup all those costs from somewhere, which probably means another decade of mediocre quality product while the accountants rule the roost instead of the engineers.

Well, your point about cost recouping is a good one. I'm overly sentimental...

but still, the formula of Sedan/Coupe/Wagon (E class) + Big Sedan (S) + roadster (SL)+ utility (G, or even Mog long ago) served them well for forty years. I certainly recall that DB was a profitable operation this way.

Like Saab, in a way- GM just didn't find their sales levels acceptable, so they bastardized the product to defray costs, thus making a Saab a product of no cohesive desgin philosophy, and driving away the customer base. But Saab was profitable at the lower levels of production maintained as an independent- they just weren't profitable enough for GM.

I understand that more profitable= good thing, but if Saab folds, they make no profit whatsoever. Ditto DCX although I find the possibility of that less likely.

Hubris-driven expansion plans are what usually cause failure or worse, taxpayer funded bailout. I would like to see a multitude of small competitors making modest profit margins rather than an oligopoly which, when finally run aground by greed, is considered "too big to fail" and gets bailed out by us poor saps.

When I saw the R series the first time, I shook my head ruefully. I suppose MB did okay with the ML's, but really, a minivan. I don't like anybody's minivan.

I believe this just dilutes a company's prestige and credibility. I hate to see such a fine brand do this to themselves.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I don't get the R series, thats one of the only new ones thats just bad. Ugh.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Huge rebates on the R's...can't give them away is what I'm being told. The new GL's and ML's are hot at least in the midwest. They have diluted the brand by trying to be everything to everybody, and I'm not sure that's a good idea. GM tried to push Cadillac volume in the late 70's by letting rental companies buy them, and ruined whatever perceived exclusivity the car had. It didn't help that the product was crap...
My personal take is that DCX product quality is on the rebound, but it can take years to turn around a bad reputation, earned or unearned. Just look at what the unintended acceleration fiasco did to Audi, for years.

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2002 Ford ZX2
2 x 2013 Honda Civics

There are just too many models out there, and it further diffuses the idea as Mercedes as an exclusive brand - it won't be possible to coax too many people into these different cars, there are just too many models of them!!

And just when the quality is beginning to rise again.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

I think it's probably bad. When Mercedes were at the top of their game in their heyday so to speak it was with comparitively few models. SL's were the toys for the idle rich. S-Classes were the best cars in the world for the top people in the world, and the mid-sized 114, 123 etc, were the taxicab's of the world (outside the USA).

Now they are doing what "ornery" manufacturers have always done. Trying to be everything for everyone and following every design fad that comes along instead of creating their own timeless designs. I dont pretend to be able to fortel the future but their current philosophy is so different from their past that I just dont see how it can be good.

Oh and I HATE the 07 S-class. That design team should be executed.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

Hey, I love the 2007 S-Class. It looks different. Not to mention that I love the CLS, as it is "beserk".


Although I dont get the point of the R class. Its like a wagon, suv, van, and car all rolled into one.

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

Justin schrieb:
That R class is to me "The answer to a question nobody asked"

But I sorta like the looks of the new M class class ones, and think the Sprinters look neat too-definately van conversion type material there, though the Dodge Sprinters look pretty neat too.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Test drove the new GL last weekend. One sweet SUV!

Nice competition for the Escalade and Navigator, but in the light of rising fuel prices, a bit too late!

And I still don't understand why the DVD package is such a big deal to get added on (almost like cupholders were years ago)!

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

I do not care for the number of models that are out there. It seems so complicated just for US sales. How well and how long will Mercedes support them?? However, I kind of like the R-Class if it is in black. I would not mind if my next loaner, which is likely to be this week, would be an R-Class.

Last week while my E300 was in the shop I drove a 2005 C260 (I think that was the model number). For the most part I liked it, but I was disappointed in the fuel economy as I have a one hour drive to and from the dealership. The other thing that did not like was that the front edge moonroof started also behind my head......it seems as if it is only for the rear seat passengers. If M-B would have tried a little hard I believe that it could have been made a little larger front to back and side to side. Perhaps it is more about roof structure. I do like the rear sun shade.