Is new E-Class pricing a con? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jjrodger · #1 08-02-2002, 01:53 PM

The new E-Class has just been launched in the UK. It seems to me that the pricing of the two most popular petrol models is a con:

E240 avantgarde: £30,640
E320 avantgarde: £33,940

The only difference in spec between these cars is that the E320 has parameter steering (a £200 option on the E240). Everything else is the same. The engine is the same, the only difference being that the E320 has a longer stroke.

So just why is an E320 more expensive than an E240 by £3,100? Where is the added value?

jjrodger · #2 08-02-2002, 07:28 PM

But the horsepower doesn't cost Mercedes any more, that is the obscene thing. The engine is almost exactly the same: same design, same parts, same costs, same everything. Sure, the 320 has a longer stroke, but the very few components that will differ will be the same quality and same principle.

Yes, pounds in my case. (does the pound sign '£' appear as something else in non-UK browsers?)

BAd124 · #3 08-02-2002, 10:43 PM

Check out Infiniti. The new G35 offers a 260hp six-pot at a price close to the CL230 coupe here. Some Japanese companies have cottened (Acura and Infiniti) on to offering big horsepower numbers (G35/I35 and 3.2TL-S) for cheap money.

Ahhh but lets not forget what the japanese leave out to give you those extra ponies, ie R&D, design developement.... and the TL is still front wheel drive which means its cheaper to produce than a rear wheel so they still keep the money for that extra horse

jjrodger · #4 08-03-2002, 04:46 AM

At present I'd only ever drive a German car. But if pushed, next would be Japanese. Honda or Toyota/Lexus. You cannot fault Honda engines for R&D or build quality. The V-Tec jobs are hand finished. How many other companies mass produce an engine that will run to 9,000rpm every day and never burst?

hill · #5 08-05-2002, 12:25 AM

Here in the states we have a program called CAFE (Corporate average fuel economy) that the manufacturers have to maintain. If the standard is 25 MPG then for every 20 MPG car they sell have to sell one that gets 30 MPG.
There is more demand for the three ton Navigator and the four hundred horse Vette than a Ford Ranger or Chevy Cavalier. The Japanese companies are in a better position since they sell lots of high MPG cars. Case in point a Ford Escort cost's the dealership at or near the cost of building it VS the Navigator with an $8,000 profit to the company. The point is, (at least in the US) more people want the E320 than the E240.

#6 08-05-2002, 01:51 AM

Do you expect e240 and e320 to be the same price? Who would buy e240 then? More power = more money , doesn't matter if the production cost isn't that much higher for DaimlerChrysler.

TimFreeh · #7 08-06-2002, 09:50 PM

John has that one down. In my neck of the woods I see 20 C240's for every one C320.

People seem to be voting very clearly with their wallets.

Tim

Ali Al-Chalabi · #8 08-06-2002, 11:44 PM

Here in the states, the C320 goes for a base price of about $6,000 more than the C240. Put the auto tranny in the 240 and there is still a $5,000 price gap. Mercedes has always done this, more money for more paower regardless of what production costs are, its all marketing.

pentoman · #9 08-07-2002, 06:18 PM

Give that man a doggy biscuit - it is indeed all marketing.

MB aren't a value brand, and it just raises the prestige of Mercedes pricing some models high, even if they seem lower value than the cheaper models.
I think that it works too. They could do what, say, Lexus do, sometimes just offering one powerful enough engine only (LS430), but I think they'd be better off if they made an LS280 with a 6-cyl all the way through to an LS600 with a V12 for $130,000 - even if no-one bought them it raises the image of the car, plus if people want an LS but want to be above the 'other people', they'll go for that car.

Crazy marketing, but only as a result of crazy purchasing..

It's pretty common, for ages Pentium processors were manufactured on the same product line but badged at either 75, 90 or 100 Mhz as they felt.

later

Russ

Ali Al-Chalabi · #10 08-07-2002, 07:56 PM

It also is cheaper for a manufacturer to use the same engine for different models. For example, Mercedes might deem it more profitable to put the same engine with a shorter stroke in the C240 instead of spending millions and millions on enginering a whole new engine and making the assembly line for it. It is more sensible to save the R&D costs of a new engine for the C240 and just use the same engine in a different market. They need a power level for a different market, and they can accomplish the same thing by using the same engine.