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Mercedes-Benz: Future Models

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What is this discussion about? Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, Mercedes-Benz R-Class

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#162 of 441 Forbes article - wake up, Mercedes!! by scott1256 May 11, 2005 (8:09 am)
MB needs better communication/PR. I believe a quality turnaround is happening but why is management whispering about it and not shouting proudly?   Forbes magazine readers are prime potential Mercedes buyers with an average income of $150,000+ IIRC. Forbes has an article titled 'Almost Great Cars'. Individual vehicles are discussed that are not bad cars but that miss the mark in some way.   Here is the shocker - they rate the WHOLE Mercedes model range 'almost great' - not one or two models but the whole line!   "We do, however, feel comfortable calling DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz cars "very good" as opposed to "great." This is because they have a major flaw, pretty much across the board: They are sleek, but unreliable."   Forbes is an influential magazine and this is a blow even though it is not accurate IMO.   Link is below.   http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/vehicles/2005/05/09/cx_dl_0509feat.html Replies to this message: merc1 (May 11, 2005 10:16 pm)
#163 of 441 Re: Forbes article - wake up, Mercedes!! [scott1256] by merc1 May 11, 2005 (10:16 pm)
Replying to: scott1256 (May 11, 2005 8:09 am) Pretty lame article imo. Some of the cars they list have been called great including some Mercedes-Benz models. Forbes isn't an automobile magazine by trade so it pretty much the same as Consumer Reports talking about driving qualities and only naming the cars that they find to be reliable as having driving fun. Pretty good paper for wrapping fish heads imo.   M
#164 of 441 Re: Stroudman [stroudman] by merc1 May 11, 2005 (10:18 pm)
Replying to: stroudman (May 04, 2005 4:34 pm) Well Edmunds has a test of the E55 wagon on their front page. Very interesting that it isn't on MBUSA.com yet. A stunningly capable car imo.   M
#166 of 441 Merc1 - article by scott1256 May 12, 2005 (6:15 am)
I agree - a lame article. But - Forbes readers are financially able to buy Mercedes cars and this will not dispose them toward doing so.   Any quality/reliability issue usually takes a while being addressed and solved. This is not exclusive to Mercedes. The current problems at VW and the Cadillac situation of 10 years have similarities to the MB scenario.   An article like this one in Forbes creates a lot of negative ripples. Restoring an image is not the work of a few months. Replies to this message: merc1 (May 12, 2005 10:19 pm)
#167 of 441 Re: Merc1 - article [scott1256] by merc1 May 12, 2005 (10:19 pm)
Replying to: scott1256 (May 12, 2005 6:15 am) Yeah they should stick to the money talk. The article reads like a child wrote it.   I've always felt that Mercedes had the most to lose when their quality went down hill since they were at the top in image and quality in most people's minds. People love to see how the mighty have fallen. This will take years to fix.   M
#168 of 441 Re: Merc1, stroudman, ikramerica [stroudman] by gagrice May 13, 2005 (3:47 pm)
Replying to: stroudman (May 10, 2005 12:13 pm) All black with a wood trim pkg   I am following this thread as I am interested in the new R class Grand Sport Tourer. Your wood trim comment caught my attention. I got thrown off the RX400h thread for making disparaging remarks about the lack of off-road ability with the Lexus sport ute. One of the things that got to me is making out like aluminum trim is better than wood trim. Am I missing something? Anyway I am enjoying your dialog on the difference between cars. I am into handling more than doodads that are offered on many Asian cars. Too bad they can't handle or stop as fast as they can make them accelerate. I bought a 2005 Passat TDI until the R class with diesel hits our shores. It is a very nice car, though a bit smaller than my Suburban.
#169 of 441 All models have same flaw? by ikramerica May 14, 2005 (3:09 pm)
Says who? I have never read any objective report that says ALL mercedes models have equal reliability problems. For Forbes to make such a grand statement is typical of the press today. They don't do research, they don't check facts, they write what they 'hear' or parrot what they 'read' and state it as fact without attribution or evidence. more and more journalists are being thrown off of newspapers for this laziness. but car reviews still suffer from it. whether it is fabricating stoplight anecdotes, slamming a cars ergonomics because they are too stupid to read a manual once in their lives, or repeating what they hear around the watercooler as fact, it is all symptomatic of journalistic laziness.   I wrote a nasty letter to Edmunds inside line about the same thing. In every, and I mean, every, article recently about a new mercedes model, one that hasn't even been released and has no history of problems, the bottom line is always "this one will likely be a lemon" or something like that. It's is total parroting bias that serves little purpose.   As i stated before and will repeat, MB cars get the same high customer satisfaction scores of other top models on Edmunds, and often higher, despite the low regard the editors have for MB. So who is right, the reviewer who drives the car for a day, laments you can't get a manual transmission, and then reads consumer reports, or the owner who has the car for years and loves it? If the cars like the C-Class were really lemons, how would they get 9.5 scores (compared to lower for the 3-series, A4 and X-type)? These averages include people who post about bad experiences, so it's not hype.   So I guess if MB doesn't get 10s across the board, they are failures? Replies to this message: gagrice (May 14, 2005 3:19 pm) merc1 (May 15, 2005 1:12 pm)
#170 of 441 Re: All models have same flaw? [ikramerica] by gagrice May 14, 2005 (3:19 pm)
Replying to: ikramerica (May 14, 2005 3:09 pm) or the owner who has the car for years and loves it?   I vote for the consumer that gives his opinion after owning the car, over Edmund's, CR or JD Powers. I also get a lot of flack about Passat TDI being unreliable. Yet if you follow the threads there is much more praise than unhappy owners. I have gotten to where I don't trust magazine writers at all. Most of the articles are just re-writes of other articles or worse the written statement given by Toyota, Lexus or Honda.
#171 of 441 Re: All models have same flaw? [ikramerica] by merc1 May 15, 2005 (1:12 pm)
Replying to: ikramerica (May 14, 2005 3:09 pm) Yes unfortunately thats how it goes. Once a story gets out a about Mercedes' not being reliable the lazy and uninformed run with it like its the case with every Mercedes in equal terms. Forbes hasn't a clue and they aren't an automotive publication so you know what I think of that lame article. I hadn't read that in any Edmunds reviews though, most of them were extremely postive lately (CLS500, SL65, SLK350, E55 Wagon) from what I've seen. Which review did you see that in?   I think Mercedes gets slammed harder because they were the leader in the luxury car market so long and some people in the back of their minds like to see a great name fall from time to time.   M

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