I think there is definitely a niche that would pay a premium price for "engineering" as opposed to "luxury." Whether it's big enough to be worth it for MBUSA I doubt, and obviously they do as well since they are not bringing over any cars that target that niche.
I doubt I will ever buy another factory new car in my life, as I'd rather let someone else take the depreciation hit for the first few years. So I will never be in either group as far as MB is concerned. I suspect you are right, that most if not nearly all of the folks on this list are not new car buyers either, since we tend to be driving 10--30 year old models. So would I buy a brand new W212 E220 diesel with a 6 speed and cloth seats? Never. Would I buy a used one at some point? Yes, but that doesn't mean much to MB. Allan Jaime Kopchinski <jaime...@gmail.com> writes: > I'm important not to confuse engineering and marketing. We design and test > all sorts of low end features that never make it to market in the US... the > engineers have nothing to do with this decision. The marketing people > decide what will sell and what won't, and how to package it. Its important > to note that MBUSA is a marketing and sales company before anything else, > and they have nearly no development engineering. > > As development engineers, we just sit back and wonder how and why they make > the decisions they do. This is how it works in most industries. > > But one thing I've noticed on these lists over the years: While the "240D > crowd" loves to go on and on about how MB doesn't offer what they want, the > reality is that there are very few people out there that feel the same way. > And the number of people in that group willing to pay $40,000+ for a new > car of any kind is probably barley a handful. Like it or not, the majority > of buyers want what MBUSA is selling, and thats why they are successful at > doing what they do. > > Do I like the idea of buying a brand new W212 E220 diesel with a 6 speed and > cloth seats? You bet! Can I afford it? Nope! If I could, would I really > buy one? Don't know. > > Jaime -- 1983 300D _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
