So I just reiterated an old anecdote about Mercedes Benz that I’ve known about for some time, but just realized that it seems to have the trappings of an Urban Legend. Unfortunately Wikipedia’s article on the car company is sparse on it’s history, so it was unhelpful in tracking down the veracity of it.
The legend goes something like this:
When Mercedes Benz first introduced an automobile in the United States, they offered an affordable economy car. The car tanked, and they were forced to withdraw from the market. A few years later, they re-introduced essentially the same car, but they tripled the price, and marketed it as a “luxury” car. It flew off the car lots, and Mercedes has been a luxury car manufacturer ever since.
Can anyone prove or disprove that something like the above occurred?
Sounds real-in Europe, the M-B 190 was a low end, cheap car. In the USA, it was marketing as a luxury car-God knows why (it was equipeed with very ordinary equipement, and A/C that wasn’t enough to cool you on an autumn day).
Mercedes isn’t really a luxury car maker in the sense of one like Rolls-Royce or Bentley. They make a full range of cars from economy hatchbacks to supercars, not to mention various heavy duty trucks and industrial equipment.
How Mercedes came to be known primarily as a luxury carmaker probably has a lot to do with the fact that only the top end of their lines have traditionally been exported. Additionally, because of tariffs even the lower end Mercedes have had to be fairly expensive when sold in the US.
If you’ve ever been in a 240D, you might understand the sentiment. The 240D is a tank-like sedan with a notoriously-slow naturally aspirated 4-cylinder diesel engine. In the late-70’s through early-80’s when Mercedes was selling these in the US, even a stripper 240D with hand crank windows, vinyl seats, just a radio, etc. cost over $20,000 at a time when a top-of-the-line Cadillac with a V8 and all the bells and whistles was only about $18,000.
You could easily see how someone might theorize that Mercedes was just slapping a luxury car price on an economy car. However, the 240Ds were superbly built automobiles that routinely run past 500,000 miles and even though they haven’t been sold here since 1983 you still see tons of them on the road. How many late-70’s/early-80’s Cadillacs do you see running around?
I disagree. I grew up in the UK (in the 70s and 80s) and longed for the day when I could afford a Benz or a Beemer. And in the UK, they sell every model they sell in Germany so it has nothing to do with only exporting the high end models.
They were always ‘posh motors’.
The reason that we get the higher spec’d BMWs and Benzs (and Audis) in the US is because gas is so much cheaper here so we get the largest engines in the range. BMW would probably not sell a lot of 318 sedans but they sell a ton of them in Europe. Here, we only get the 328 and 335 both of which are 3 liter engines - the largest available in the 3 series.
How many of you know that there is an A Class Benz? They have been selling them elsewhere for 12 years but until recently, who needed an economical Mercedes in the US? Perhaps we’ll see them soon: Mercedes-Benz A-Class - Wikipedia
BTW, I got my Beemer but I had to come to the US to achieve the goal
I saw those when I was in Europe and wanted one. Later, Canada got the B-class, which is almost there, just a bit bigger. But it’s definitely marketed as a high-end small car, similarly to the Mini, not a basic small car. (Ever priced a Mini? Yikes!)
This OP sounds a lot like a quandry Arnold Schwarzenegger had in the 70s.
He and fellow bodybuilder Franco Colombu were supplementing their incomes with bricklaying…but couldnt get any business, no matter how low they offered their prices.
Then, they adjusted their approach:
They were European…from the Old Country. These were imported bricks.
They raised their prices to outlandish levels and got all the business they could handle.
When Mercedes bought Chrysler I though it was to bring in the B-class to the US market without diluting the high end market of the existing Mercedes dealers. Alas, it never happened.
I’ve seen a few cars here and there that, from the looks of them, were never luxury cars, yet, they have the recognizable three points in a circle. It’s a Mercedes Benz, but it’s a shitty car. I always just brushed if off, but now, I think I’ll pay closer attention to them next time I see one.
I found out about these when I got to the rental car place in Germany and found out that I was getting a Mercedes! It was then I picked up my A class ride and discovered that Mercedes were so common that there that they were used as cheap rentals and taxis. :eek:
Still, it rode damn good for a small car, got great milage and beat the pants off the crappy Alero’s they gave you to ride around in here in the States at the time.:smack:
It might be slightly different in Germany as compared to other parts of Europe but all Mercedes makes are definitely considered top-end and if they’re rentals they’re definitely not cheap rentals. Also, since in many cities, cabs are not as common and inexpensive as in many places in North America, and therefore you’ll typically find that cab drivers (who usually own the cabs they drive) buy more expensive and luxurious cars. So obviously Mercs are going to be more common in Germany since that’s where they’re from, but their still high-end even there.
It was then I picked up my A class ride and discovered that Mercedes were so common that there that they were used as cheap rentals and taxis. :eek: