Is it smart? I mean, it’s cheapening the brand when a new Mercedes costs what a new Civic does.
Does buying a new, loaded Civic show that you have "made it"?
In 1932, Packard tried the same the same thing - expanding their potential client base through a cheaper model - and they introduced the "light eight" - a de-contented version of the standard eight.
They lost cachet, their position in the market, as a result of that cheapening, as well as money on the model.
Didn't work out that well in the long run.
Just because dealerships in the USA give away overpriced lattes and high markups on parts doesn’t mean that this is the brand. It’s a made up facet for the American public.
You could forever go get cloth seats and hubcaps in an E class sedan. A and B class cars have been around over in Europe, including most importantly, Germany, for a very long time.
They sell to the taxi segment. Heck, they sell tractor trailers and busses.
The exclusivity is made up as a sales gimmick. What they sold was quality engineering.
That’s why they could sell plenty of 67 hp sedans with manual transmissions, hubcaps, and no frills, with people more than willing to pay a premium for superior engineering. Sure, they had bigger, better cars back then too, but they weren’t that much fancier in fact.
The cheapening of the brand came from the top down. Post w140/124/201, cost was taken out. Reliability and engineering of alternatives/competitors was increasing. So all they could lean on was fake fanciness.
This ad is fake fanciness. No different than a Lexus or Acura. All might be nice cars. Folks might have reason to want to buy one over another option. But the pompousness of brand positioning is just a profit center, not justified. They sell these cheaper cars the world over. Pompousness and profit margins are the driver to not sell them here. Looks like there’s no choice but to pull all the stops now. Too bad the cost of doing business isn’t going to be commensurate.
That’s when it really gets cheapened. When the leases and proud folks can’t afford the cost of the latte machine at the dealer, and the cars go to ruin.
Yuck.
). It's no EV but not bad.
