LOL.
Ola is a dumb C**T. No other way to put it.
He claimed to be pushing a policy of high profit, high margin vehicles, and hiked the prices, just as Mercedes started rolling out EV duds and ICE vehicles that were clearly subject to extensive interior cost cutting. The 'high end' luxury offerings were also disappearing from the catalogue fast, with 2/3rds of the cabriolet and coupe range bowing out.
AMG destroyed their own best sellers, despite the market screaming for them not to do it, and with some really dumb internal decisions they have fumbled both the SL and AMG GT. Don't get me wrong, they are fantastic cars in isolation, but neither of them do exactly what they are supposed to. They're both in a bit of a no man's land in the market. The SL, such a prestigious nameplate in the Industry, is actually at risk of dying out.
They bragged about all of their high end aspirations, cutting the A-class, moving Mercedes upmarket etc., but had nothing to show for it but higher prices on cars the market didn't want, while all the cars that the market did want disappeared from the showroom floor. The product cycle was completely out of step with their supposed brand positioning and marketing.
Yes, the EU's unrealistic push royally f#cked all of the European Manufacturers, but Ola has been making poor decisions all over the place regardless.
3 years later, with both margins and volumes plummeting, all the noise out of Stuttgart is about panicked product decision making and back peddling. Corporate strategy is clearly a mess and that is putting aside the huge amount of noise around the design department. Surprise surprise the A-class will now live on. Probably in some bastardised format, until they can get a proper replacement to market.
Final part of my rant, MB is about to seriously damage the prestige of the G Wagon. They are so desperate to pump out as many of these high margin cars, they have started offering all sorts of engine variants in markets previously reserved just for the G63. These cars are becoming a dime a dozen on the road, and the customers who did fork out the $$ for the G63 'cred' are going to notice. The introduction of a baby G, under a CEO who has proven to be nothing but a tree hugging bean counter, is extremely concerning.
At this point, perhaps a Chinese takeover or merger would be a good outcome. Imagine the cash and resources they would have access to, to ensure they were 'engineered like no other'. The Chinese have proven they can engineer and manufacture alongside the best in the world now and an arrangement whereby Mercedes were the Halo 'German' brand of Chinese/German automotive powerhouse, representing the absolute best of the best, without having to worry about massive volume, would be quite ideal to me.
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