All Entries in the "MERCEDES-BENZ" Category
C-Class Made In USA? Problem?
Made in Germany, China, and coming soon… USA?
By Gunnar Heinrich
TREATING this story strictly as a hypothetical (and at the moment the original rumor has been refuted) what hay can we make from the notion that Mercedes-Benz might have transferred C-Class production from Germany to these United States?
Well, those not-so-old hens in the blogosphere were all a-twitter following the Stuttgarter Zeitung‘s story alleging that an unnamed official leaked that Daimler’s actively looking at ways to minimize the effect that the strong €uro is having on American sales for their bread ‘n butter entry-level sedan.
If this were Toyota, there wouldn’t be much of story. It would be another economy car made in America for Americans.
Indeed, if you’ve seen the movie Minority Report, you’ll know that Spielberg & Co. crafted a world of made-to-order Lexus dealers in a town near you as tomorrow’s reality. In the minds and hearts of accountants everywhere, it makes good commercial cent$ that Mercedes should build the C-Class Stateside.
But this is Mercedes-Benz, the company of stalwart over-engineered, indestructible, German luxury cars.
And the new C-Class has been pitched as the most indestructible of indestructible Benzes. Have you seen the roll-over accident advert in the States?
Trouble is, the recently expanded US operations which is home to the marque’s SUV range (sans G-Wagen) has also been the chief culprit behind Benz’s decade long backslide down the wrong end of Consumer Reports ratings.
If history is anything to go by, having the C-Class built in Alabama would give added value to the expression – they don’t build ‘em like they used to.
But, let’s play a little bit of Devil’s Advocate.
If we dig a hole to the other side, Mercedes sales are burgeoning in China. The marque is gaining fast ground by establishing a decidedly upmarket presence with well-to-do Chinese customers that have Yuan to burn. But Mercedes-Benz is selling the Chinese C & E-Class cars that are produced in co-op factories in the PRC.
Luxury cars made in China for Chinese.
So, in the end it comes back down to a name (read: brand image) and a (lower) price. To the rest of the world, Chinese manufacturing may have far less cred next to German manufacturing. But that’s not bothering the Chinese buyers who are happy to pocket the savings from a domestically produced car.
When it comes down to brass import tax, Mercedes-Benz is a business and like any good business it’s about maximizing profits.
So would new-to-Mercedes American customers be especially concerned if they learned that their C350 was born southwest of the Mason-Dixon instead of southeast of the Maginot?
Nah. To them, it’d still be a Mercedes.
Even if it wouldn’t really be a Benz.
Mercedes 600 of VIPs & Despots
By John Sweeney | IMG Last King of Scotland
NOTED in a 1965 issue of Road and Track: to buy a new Mercedes-Benz 600 that year would require a pile of dollar bills slightly higher than 7ft 1in tall basketball star Wilt Chamberlain.
Or, to put it another way, for the price of a 600 in 1965, you could have a Lincoln Continental, a Buick Riviera, two Pontiac GTOs and have enough left over for three Volkswagens to run about town in.
Whichever way one chooses to look at it now, the 600 was in a sphere of existence which contained only the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow as a possible contender.
Even then, the Rolls-Royce would simply not have cut it for many potential 600 owners. The Royce didn’t quite fit the impression a large portion of the ownership demographic were aiming for. Owning a Mercedes-Benz 600 in the 1960s and 70s gave you instant membership of one very exclusive club: Despots.
You see, the 600 has had a pretty diverse clientele.
Reading a list of 600 owners is like scanning a ‘Who’s Who’ of VVIPs: Aristotle Onassis, Emperor Hirohito, Elvis, John Lennon, Elizabeth Taylor, the Pope and Rowan Atkinson of Mr. Bean fame have all owned one.
Unfortunately, so have half the world’s dictators, totalitarians and other less well-regarded folks: Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, Idi Amin, Nicolae Ceausescu, Pol Pot and Jeremy Clarkson all have been (or are) happy 600 owners.
For them, the Rolls-Royce was just too symbolic of capitalism and privilege to be considered suitable. Or, in Clarkson’s case, because the 600 had a louder horn.
Still, you could always be like Leonid Brezhnev and own both, if you really wanted to. As long as you drove the Royce under cover of darkness, that is.
What Price Propulsion? UK Diesel PPL
By John Sweeney
DRIVING in the UK has become somewhat of a chore in recent years.
Rising fuel prices are perhaps the main protagonist. Indeed, the Government just recently slapped another two pence per litre onto the fuel tax, taking the average cost of a litre of petrol to 106.3 pence per litre (ppl) and diesel to 107.1 ppl.
It used to be the case that diesel fuel was cheaper per litre than petrol, though as diesel cars became more popular towards the end of the 1990s, the prices began to match, and then outrun, their unleaded brethren. This difference could be quite dramatic: at the fuel price peak in July 2008, the gap was 13 ppl (petrol: 119.7p and diesel: 133.25p).
Now all of this doesn’t go an awfully long way to help to explain quite why so many drivers of the UK have embraced the diesel engine to their hearts as they have.
Based on figures from the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, while total annual vehicle sales have held relatively steady at around 2.3 million units for the last ten years, the sale of new diesels has shown a steady rise throughout. So much so, in fact, that in 2008 the petrol v. diesel sales battle was almost a tiebreak.
Indeed, this author recently saw a statistic which stated that, when you take into account the increased list price of a diesel car over a petrol-engined equivalent, and the extra cost per litre in fuel, it would take over 100,000 miles in your new diesel car to break even with the equivalent petrol model.
For the average driver, who travels 12,000 miles per year, this would necessitate almost eight and a half years of ownership just to break even.
Modern diesel engines are fantastic things. The difference in power and refinement over their comparatively recent descendants is remarkable. Diesels are no longer the smoky, clattery, low output power plants they once were. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Jaguar all offer oil burners that provide execs with all the comfort of a petrol powered car, but with the added benefit of extra range.
Consequently, the modern diesel is the engine of choice for Britain’s vast army of high mileage, motorway-munching executives, and perhaps it is this fact that helps to explain the diesel’s considerable popularity within the UK.
Flat Register: SLS AMG Video Reveals V8 Sound
By Gunnar Heinrich | YouTube
AUDIOPHILES know that there’s really no substitute for a Ferrari V12.
It’s no secret that Claude Lelouch re-dubbed a Ferrari 275 GTB’s V12 sound over the Mercedes 450SEL 6.9′s V8 he used to scream through Paris in C’était un Rendezvous. The Benz may have produced the required speed, but the Ferrari’s sound brought us the theater.
A Ferrari V12 (or V8) elicits a range of sound – full of hot tempered drama – that direct injects excitement through to your senses -particularly as the exhaust note peaks high into a blistering wail.
Mercedes AMG engines are noted for being no audio slouches either. Producing a full bodied V8 bark that crescendos into a roar, they may not possess the same Pavarotti-like range for high-C’s that Ferraris can muster, but they do hold their own in the arias of the automotive opera.
That said, the SLS AMG’s predecessor – the McLaren SLR – had an amazing soundtrack that, like a Ferrari meeting an AMG, started deep and then burst into a high, blood curdling supercharged wail.
Granted that sound quality on YouTube is approximate at best, it does seem that the new Gullwing has none of the SLR’s (M155 ML55) 617 hp V8′s symphonic charm. Sadly, the SLS AMG’s (M159) 571 hp V8 resonnates like a flat, almost nasal baritone as the dual clutch transmission briskly dispatches one sweep of the tach for the next.
Nonetheless, it’s good to see Benz’s new halo car in action. The sports car corners flat and looks mighty composed in swift manuevers! All good signs, even if the Benz lacks a certain operatic presence.
[ Thanks for the tip, Lance! ]
Take Two: Mercedes SLS Gullwing Is Go
Perfect timing.
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Daimler, AG
RUNNING with a group of prancing horses this past weekend (post to follow) between Connecticut and Massachusetts, I managed a little time between shots and breaths to consider Mercedes-Benz’s 2010 SLS AMG “Gullwing”.
A half century on, the fly-away $250K+ production car stands as heir apparent to the 300SL legacy. And I had decided, after some deliberation, that Mercedes-Benz needs to sell this car. You know, IMHO.
You see, sprinkled in among these glorious Ferraris and quite a number of Porsches, were a gaggle of BMWs, a few gorgeous Alfas, and the odd Vette.
But yours counted only two Mercedes-Benzes. Two.
One, a new SLK350 and the other an R129 generation SL with the sport package.
Boulevardiers with torque.
And as I watched the lovely silver Sacco penned SL take its place modestly on the shaded side of a long line up of Italian exotica, the thought came to me: Mercedes would be missing out if the company didn’t turn out the SLS.
You see, as powerful as a current generation AMG tuned SL is – and 738 lb-ft of torque is herculean by any accounting, the car is like a jackhammer delicately wrapped in a turqoise box from Tiffany & Co. The SL convertible’s a heavy car with big proportions and cushy air shocks made for 8/10ths driving and with power to be applied when the road goes straight ahead.
For years, one can safely argue, Mercedes has needed a purist’s machine with some flamboyance, zest, flair, bravado but, crucially, in a context that wouldn’t appear contrived.
Hence the new SLS Gullwing. And what timing!
BMW’s not doing the M1. Or at least they say they’re not doing the M1. And Audi already has the R8 + droptop. What better way for Mercedes now to barge in and seize the German stage against a small by highly visible market dominated by the Italians; ruled from Modena.
And to do so with pedigree!
Audi may have whipped the R8 out of thin-air – but what is their exotic heritage? An all-wheel drive hot hatch from the 80s? Mercedes owns the historical rights to the most righteous super car in history.
Suddenly, the playing field feels a bit more level.
Since the McLaren SLR is a sad and sadly overpriced halo from the unlamented near-past, there’s no time like the optimistic present for Mercedes to strike again while the striking’s good. The SLS AMG’s a clever car and business concept, even if borrows heavily on yesterday.
Perhaps on any given Sunday next autumn maybe, just maybe, we’ll see one of these tri-star thoroughbreds make into the pack.
Mixed Reception: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
Striking, if strikingly familiar.
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Daimler, AG
JUDGING from mere photography, it’s hard to properly gauge the 2010 Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing.
Sure it’s hit the blogosphere harder than a SMART ForTwo meeting a brick wall at 70 mph. And yes the sports car’s vintage styling cues do evoke the most evocative post war super car this world has yet known. We’d recognize that gun-metal-gray anywhere.
It’s just, well, hmm…. how to put this?
The car leaves you with mixed feelings. Here are some possible reasons why.
RETRO STYLE
Doubtless bold in the flesh, pictures of the SLS just don’t do the car justice. Perhaps it’s that for every line that calls upon the 300SL’s lovely heritage, there’s a few more that owe their inspiration to contemporary rivals.
For example, there’s a bit of Nissan GT-R in those high mounted, vertically rectangular headlights. From the profile, those same lamps above those significant air intakes seem to recall one of Fisker’s creations.
There’s a Jaguar XK smiling at you in that cat-fish grille. The smooth trunk that descends into an angular bumper with slim tail lights practically mirror the BMWs Z4 and Z8. And the bold, triangular B-Pillar looks like it belongs to a disco-era Zagato concept.
Keep in mind – none of these character facets are bad, per se. They’re just not fresh, original concepts that do anything to move automotive design forward.
Further, all the defined elements of the SLS’ look are copies of Mercedes heritage circa 1952; the upright windshield, the doors, the straked quarter panel air vents. Inside, it’s generic features SLR, SLK, SL parts bin, save, of course, for the magnesium backing to the high bolstered seats.
BAD JUJU
Then there’s the bad blood that exists between Mercedes-Benz and McLaren.
After all, there’s a reason why this Benz is an “AMG” and not a “McLaren”. Mercedes has had a troubled relationship with the British power haüs and as such as cast off its ties with that company in an effort to forge a new path with a new super car. For reasons not altogether clear, the two companies managed to function as symbiotically as antifreeze with oil.
The McLaren Mercedes SLR proved to be an overpriced halo model that marked a previous attempt to channel the old Sterling Moss racing SL’s into a modern day context.
The SLS seems like an attempt at fixing that bad image and will be priced well under the $600K+ SLR at roughly $250,000.
As such, the SLS AMG’s going to come engineered with power to match; that is to say de-tuned. The original 300SL was the fastest car on the block – one of the first sports cars to charge to 155 mph. This new Gullwing with a 563 hp V8 with 480 lb-ft of torque will be fast but not competitive against, say, an old McLaren F1.
But possibly the new MP4-12C (say that 10 times fast).
Tut-tut, you say. Five hundred and sixty-three horsepower is prodigious!
It is, until you consider that the $200,000 SL65 AMG’s V12 packs 604 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque. In point of fact, the SLS shares the same M159 V8 engine that powers the SL63 AMG. So, for a brand new show car, it’s already upstaged by a “stock” SL AMG.
GOOD INTENTIONS
Finally, as has been mentioned elsewhere, it does seem like Mercedes designers had all the right motives but a meandering focus. What makes a car like, say, the original 300SL legendary is that it succeed by virtue of being first born of necessity.
In the original SL’s case, the car was based on a race car engineered to put Mercedes-Benz back on map following World War II.
The SLS seems to have no specific performance goals other than to be blisteringly fast up to 198 mph. For historical comparison, the 500 hp C111 diesel concept car managed a top speed of 250 mph in 1979.
Instead, the 2010 Gullwing seems purpose built for patching a bad bit of history with McLaren, pandering to baby boomers who’d remember lusting after the 300SL, and filling an endless need to creat sub-niche after sub-niche in a fast expanding model lineup.
I’m sure the new Gullwing will provide a tremendous ownership experience – what with all that power, ceramic composite brakes, dual clutch transmission, seats with, um, magnesium backrests and the rest. It’s AMG tuning promises sensational performance, too.
But for now, with only photographs with which to judge, even the introduction of the Audi R8 convertible seems somehow more newsworthy.
Coming from a retro-Benz enthusiast as strongly Sisyphean as your correspondent, that’s saying something.
