Mercedes SEC |

should mercedes-benz eliminate the c-class and glk-class from their model lineup?
my friends and i like to refer to anything below an e-class benz as a poseur mobile because they are for people who want to say they own a mercedes-benz, but can not actually afford a true benz.

i mean this company has a long history of producing exclusive luxury saloons for the wealthy and financially well-off, as well as a long admirable racing heritage. to this day they produce cars which compete against bentley, ferrari, lamborghini, maserati and the like and those models remain very exclusive, yet the c-class which was introduced about 20 years ago to compete in the sporty near-luxury category dominated by the bmw 3-series made the mercedes mark more attainable to the average joe, thus lowering the prestige of the mercedes brand in general. i think it’s appropriate for bmw to have cars in this segment since bmw has a history of making small, sporty upscale-but-not-quite-luxo cars, but should mercedes-benz eliminate the c-class or even the c-class derivative glk suv from their lineup in order to restore their currently diminished brand image in america?

jaguar tried a similar tactic to increase sales by introducing the x-type to the u.s. market to compete in the sporty near-luxury category, but has since eliminated it from their model lineup and just focus on certain models to maintain their exclusivity and brand image. should mercedes follow jaguar’s example?

for the record, i think the near-luxury segment is an important segment and works great for bmw and audi, as well as for vw, infiniti and lexus to compete in, especially to attract younger sports-oriented buyers, however for a brand like mercedes which is all about big expensive luxury cars and exclusive sports cars/ roadsters it’s just not fitting for their brand image.

no