German Car Forum

FRANKFURT (AFX) - DaimlerChrysler AG is cutting back the output of Mercedes-Benz C-Class cars in the main production facility in Sindelfingen from January, Handelsblatt said, citing a company spokesman.

It said the spokesman declined to give any reasons for the decision.

The report added that although it is normal for a car to post declining sales towards the end of a 7-year life cycle, sales of the C-Class have fallen more steeply than expected. A new C-Class will be launched in two years.

In the first ten months of this year, C-Class sales have declined by 13 pct to 335,600 units.

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Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/...fx2368432.html

So much for a C63 in current form.

lol when I first read the headline I thought you meant they wont produce the C-class anymore

Thats why you cant judge a book by its cover...

Im looking forward to the next C class! The E class should come out before the C class right, or is the order going to get screwed up....

The redesigned C class will come before the redesigned E class like it has the last couple of times, there will be no screw up. The facelifted E class will be released before the redesigned c class.

Well there you go... i guess there some logic to that....

o ok. thx

That's strange because it's selling relatively well in Germany (sold numbers for Jan - October 05) :

AUDI A4, S4 82.102
BMW 3ER 74.495
MB C-KLASSE 67.505

Maybe B-Class ist stealing some C-Class customers, but that's ok for MB
( no Audi , BMW competitor here ):

B-Class (Feb-Okt) 22.560
FORD GALAXY 10.814
OPEL ZAFIRA 34.979
VW SHARAN 12.275
VW TOURAN 65.220

and other numbers I currently found:

AUDI A3, S3 55.296
BMW 1ER 47.164
MB A-Class 75.338
OPEL ASTRA 101.551
VW GOLF, JETTA 203.223

Sorry for beeing a little bit OT.

(source : http://www.kba.de/Stabsstelle/Presse...te_10_2005.pdf )

For Germany that may be true, but globaly, the E90 (as well as the B7) is destroying the competition.
From what I heard some dealers in the USA are pissed of cause they can't get enough E90s.

you are aware of that there is more markets and countries than just Germany?

Thx for the education
But overall in the world, the sales numbers are closer than they are .e.g. in the US.

apparently there is a problem or are you saying the article isnt correct?

IIRC, over here, the E90 is somewhat-killing the C-class, but somewhat surprisingly the C-class is doing better than the B7 A4. Then again, the B7 A4 isn't exactly a new car itself anyway.

I'm not really surprised at this news. The pre-FL W203 was doing well here, but post-FL, I haven't seen that many new ones.

Read my statements again und you will understand it

I agree with that, I still see a lot more C classes than the A4... while the E90 is dominating. While I was working in SA, it was just ridiculous because I saw a whole bunch of 3ers... 1 week after launch date!

I'm very surprised that Benz is taking so long to do something about the C-Class. They are (IMO) at the bottom of the 3 German brands when it comes to this category. I'm surprised they didn't anticipate this.

Really snake? I notice a lot of new w203's up here. And according to RACQ sales figures, the C-class is still performing well, as is the E-class. The w203 equipment upgrades, engine upgrades and facelift have really helped it hold a bit of ground against the A4 and the 3-series. Luxury car sales here are:
1. 3-Series
2. C- Class
3. E-class

The 5 at one stage looked like it was going to replace the E as the mid-level luxury vehicle of choice, but the E-class has fought back.

What should be interesting is to see how the new IS is accepted.

Don't agree here. MB has launched C320 CDI, C350 etc. which also won comparison tests against their 3er competitors. Even the Edmunds consumer rating for the 2005 C-Class is very good (average 9.1, compared to the 3er = 9.2 ). So the C-Class is at the same eye level.

I understand. I'm not saying that it's obsolete but I think they might want to work a bit faster at it. Since the C Class is not supposed to come until 2007, it's not going to be doing well against its competitors I don't think by then.

My current Auto Motor und Sport explained that A and B-Class sales have cannibalized C-Class sales.

Hmm, that is interesting Chris - do you think MB will eventually drop the C class model altogether?

No. The C-Class is too important for other markets where the A / B-Class wouldn't do too well for image reasons, such as the USA for instance. The A and B-Classes are also no match for the revised C-Class handling and driving dynamics, as well as comfort. The next generation C-Class according to MB will be much sportier, a type of BMW 3-series rival as MB put it.

Generally, the A / B-Classes are only sold in Europe, some parts of Asia and of course Canada (B-Class). In markets where image matters, these cars wouldn't do too well IMHO. Japan is an exception because even a small A-Class carries a lot of prestige in that market. They also sell MB garbage trucks there you know.

Also I think the only reason the A/B have taken some of the C's sales is because of the C-Class' age. Once the new model appears the C will bounce back. Plus like the above post states the A/B won't do in some of Mercedes' bigger markets like the U.S.

M

Yeah pretty much. The C-Class is pretty old by now, but the facelift has made it more competitive and more expensive looking too. I like the current C-Class now. Didn't like the original cheap-looking W203 C-Class.