Alright.
In this week's Autoextremist rant, the editor of the site howls that the so-called "near-luxury" phenomenon will ultimately lead to erosion of luxury-car brand status. He goes on to cite the Mercedes C-Coupe as an example.
Doeqn't this idiot know that the concept of the M-B as a superluxury car has only been perpetuated by Mercedes-Benz, USA? Fifteen years ago in Europe, W124 cars were available with 2.0 liter gas engines, 5-speed manuals, cloth seats, and roll-up windows. Did that "dilute" the image of Mercedes-Benz? Obviously not; since Europeans are used to Mercedes building everything from taxicabs to Autobahn burners.
This rant just bugs me.
http://www.autoextremist.com/page2.shtml#Rant2
-Sam