Originally Posted by tbomachines (Post 3217531)

Oh don't start that conversation :D. I think they'll do well in the U.S. but are diluting their brand image significantly. While this is what they need to do in order to survive (or I'd bet), I can see people on the higher end jumping from the brand because its no longer exclusive to the wealthy. Not to say they won't be making really expensive and overpriced cars, but the S class owner may turn his/her nose at it -- there are definitely people in my area who actually care about that. They'll just have to be careful about dilution.

Originally Posted by pj67coll (Post 3217540)

That may be, but Lexus owners never seemed to be concerned about driving around in badge engineered Toyotas.

- Peter.