On Mercedes

06 Dec 2014

Tags: Mercedes

I’ve found the resurgence of Mercedes quite interesting to watch. Audi has pursued an ideal of subtlety and discretion, while bmw has seemed a bit lost/stuck on a history of design that they haven’t shaken until the i8 arrived.

However, Mercedes has really redefined themselves again. The previous generation C-Class was rather underwhelming, so they made the CLA and new-gen C, both of which are stellar.

By splitting the lower end of their range to appeal to two now-distinct segments of buyers, they really nailed it. I expect the E-Class to move up a bit in response (the current E pales next to the C in my opinion) and the S has moved up past the A8 and 7-Series by a long ways.

In essence, they’ve moved all price points upwards for existing models and added a lower price point for entry-level buyers. CLA buyers will buy a C, C buyers will move to the next-gen E and so on.

Well played, mercedesbenz