Topic: Mercedes-Benz / Smart / Maybach Tidbits

[safristi]

I think all this second guessing the market by CEO's et al as to what the public will buy is pure GUESSWORK.........BUILD a Spectaculary good vehicle in any SIZE..make sure it's GREAT  from the tyres to the roofline..and the public will knock down their doors to BUY IT..and at a higher PRICE than these stop_gap giveaways that are the bulk of all the BIG3's LOTS these days......

   Can ya just see a LOT      with a FIT
                                       an   Elantra/Mazda3
                                       a Camry/Accord
                                       a Santa Fe
                                       a Sienna
                                        a BMW3
                                        a MX5
                 ya get tha PICTURE   wots MISSING the BIG 3.....we are talking big sellers here

[UmroAyyar]

Mazda is a very good example for the scenario described by safristi.

Attack one segment at a time with a good product.

Mazda3
Mazda5
Mazda6
CX-7
CX-9
Mazda Speed versions
MX-5 was always there.

[Leif]

The thing I find frustrating about Ford and Chevy is that in Europe, Opel and Ford are quite well regarded brands. The opel Astra is the #1 selling car in europe, and the Ford Mondeo is always high on the list of sedans.

Why do they refuse to sell these cars here?

I'm sure the S-Max and the Fiesta would sell like hotcakes...

[Mitlov]

The thing I find frustrating about Ford and Chevy is that in Europe, Opel and Ford are quite well regarded brands. The opel Astra is the #1 selling car in europe, and the Ford Mondeo is always high on the list of sedans.

Why do they refuse to sell these cars here?

The Ford Mondeo WAS sold here, as a Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique, and tarted up as a Jaguar X-Type.  They haven't been sales successes.

[Leif]

I did not know the contour was a Mondeo, but after comparing the pics...wow.

Hum...was the contour a decent car to drive (I know a girl with an SVT contour who loves it)? I wonder why it wasnt a bigger seller...Fords image getting in the way of the fact that it was a very decent car?

[Allen]

my friend had a 98, lots of recall notices noisy 4 cyl like most american 4 bangers, tranny went at just over 40K ..

[AVToller]

my friend had a 98, lots of recall notices noisy 4 cyl like most american 4 bangers, tranny went at just over 40K ..

Yup, deserved or not, they had a HORRIBLE reputation re reliability.

[airbalancer]

my friend had a 98, lots of recall notices noisy 4 cyl like most american 4 bangers, tranny went at just over 40K ..

What is a 98?

[UmroAyyar]

my friend had a 98, lots of recall notices noisy 4 cyl like most american 4 bangers, tranny went at just over 40K ..

What is a 98?

I think allen was replying to Leif's post about Ford Contour.

I did not know the contour was a Mondeo, but after comparing the pics...wow.

Hum...was the contour a decent car to drive (I know a girl with an SVT contour who loves it)? I wonder why it wasnt a bigger seller...Fords image getting in the way of the fact that it was a very decent car?

[airbalancer]

my friend had a 98, lots of recall notices noisy 4 cyl like most american 4 bangers, tranny went at just over 40K ..

What is a 98?

I think allen was replying to Leif's post about Ford Contour.

I did not know the contour was a Mondeo, but after comparing the pics...wow.

Hum...was the contour a decent car to drive (I know a girl with an SVT contour who loves it)? I wonder why it wasnt a bigger seller...Fords image getting in the way of the fact that it was a very decent car?

So it is not an Olds 98 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_98

[UmroAyyar]

Oldsmobile was owned by GM.

[MKII]

I did not know the contour was a Mondeo, but after comparing the pics...wow.

Hum...was the contour a decent car to drive (I know a girl with an SVT contour who loves it)? I wonder why it wasnt a bigger seller...Fords image getting in the way of the fact that it was a very decent car?

Ford NA in all there wisdom, waterdown, decontented the Contour to the point the car was not very  inviting, except for its
road manners, which were quite decent.

North American consumers were told the reason why the Contour tanked was because North American taste differ from European.    

[Mitlov]

So it is not an Olds 98 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_98

No, I think Allen meant "a 1998 Ford Contour."

[Mitlov]

Ford NA in all there wisdom, waterdown, decontented the Contour to the point the car was not very  inviting, except for its
road manners, which were quite decent.

...and if you wanted a Mondeo with "all the goodies," there was the Jaguar X-Type (basically an AWD Mondeo with a luxury interior), a true sales disaster.

[Leif]

From what I have heard, the X-type is not a bad car...IMO its problem is the competition...

In canada a base X-Type costs $47,000

A base 328Xi is $43,000, A4 Quattro is $42,000, Lexus IS250 AWD is $42,000 even a Mercedes C280 with 4matic is $900 cheaper than the Jaguar. Personally speaking, I would rather have any of those cars over the Jaguar.

They are all about the same size on the inside, granted, the jaguar comes with alot of standard kit, something the Germans are not known for...

[Mitlov]

From what I have heard, the X-type is not a bad car...IMO its problem is the competition...

I didn't mean to imply it's a bad car, just a bad seller.  My point was this: people on car forums frequently give Ford grief for not bringing the Mondeo to North America.  But Ford has done so, twice (Contour and X-Type).  Neither time it worked out for Ford.  I don't blame them for being wary about trying a third time.

[Leif]

True...I guess the point I was trying to make was that with the counour, from the accounts I have heard on here they wattered it down to the point that it was a crap car, and the X-type was too $$. Perhaps a Mondeo sold here, which was priced like other ford models, but built to the same spec. as its europen sibbling might do well.

But I guess we will probaly never know.

[Allen]

Gentlemen,  yes I was refering to a Contour

[Mitlov]

From what I have heard, the X-type is not a bad car...IMO its problem is the competition...

In canada a base X-Type costs $47,000

A base 328Xi is $43,000, ..., Lexus IS250 AWD is $42,000

  

In the States, an X-Type 3.0 costs $34,000; a Lexus IS250 AWD costs $34,000 (and the options packages are very pricey); a 328xi costs $36,000 (and doesn't have leather).  There's no way the Jaguar should be $5000 more than those cars.

[Leif]

^I got those figures from the companies Canadian websites...and I just re-cecked them, thay are accurate (except the 328Xi is atcually $43,600...my bad)

Its important to remeber that Canadian prices for imports are often very different from that of the Us, as most companies try to give them selves a nice buffer to try and compensate for changes in the Canadian Dollar.

That might explain the descrepencies between the US and CAN prices for these cars.

I guess that might dilute my argument for why the X-type was a sales flop in the US however...