Have you driven any of the smaller, cheaper, Mercedes? I have, and IMO they are cannibalizing their brand..people who spend $100K for a car don’t want to see the 3 pointed star on a commuter car..
My SIL’s brother has one and he’s sort of a half @ss salesman type.
So yes, somebody in Stuttgart has gone for volume over prestige.
Not sure how that works long term.
“..people who spend $100K for a car don’t want to see the 3 pointed star on a commuter car..”
Who cares? Its a little bizarre to think your car company should only make luxury cars. They make compacts, SUVs, delivery trucks, panel vans, etc.
If they didn’t, they’d just be another commercially irrelevant manufacturer like Bentley, or Ferrari.
In Germany, Mercedes competes head-to-head with Ford across the spectrum from econoboxes to delivery vans to high end cars.
A bit snobby, are we? Better get a Rolls. Oh, wait, that’s a “cannibalized” version of a Bentley.
My daughter was thinking about a CLA so I looked at one while my 350 GLK was in for a wash. I told her no. They’re cheap cheap.