BMW overtakes Lexus to become America’s top-selling luxury brand so far this year

[LaArtist]

great!!!! about freakin time

 

[FC123]

Honestly guys.

There's no difference between Merc, Lexus, BMW and Audi.

They're just business'es with shareholders going for profit. If you like one brand better than the other, that's fine, just don't kid yourself, that there is some inherent soul in these giant corporations. Any notions of such is purely created through marketing. It may have been different in the old days, but when a company needs to talk about it's heritage to move stuff, it's quite telling.

And if a company says it's run by engineers, you can be sure the marketing department coined that phrase.

Car companies today possess the same amount of soul as companies manufacturing vacuum cleaners.

And yet, I'm no vacuum cleaner enthusiast...

EDIT: Caterham, Morgan that is soul 100%

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Honestly guys.

There's no difference between Merc, Lexus, BMW and Audi.

They're just business'es with shareholders going for profit. If you like one brand better than the other, that's fine, just don't kid yourself, that there is some inherent soul in these giant corporations. Any notions of such is purely created through marketing. It may have been different in the old days, but when a company needs to talk about it's heritage to move stuff, it's quite telling.

And if a company says it's run by engineers, you can be sure the marketing department coined that phrase.

Car companies today possess the same amount of soul as companies manufacturing vacuum cleaners.

And yet, I'm no vacuum cleaner enthusiast...

LOL. Nice.

But still. I like to believe Audi, MB and BMW have more soul then Lexus.

 

[FC123]

LOL. Nice.

But still. I like to believe Audi, MB and BMW have more soul then Lexus.

I would too, but honestly, when Audi fell victim to platform sharing in the VAG empire, that took out all sense of soul. Though, I won't debate it's obviously great cars.

The TT RS is a great example. We're hammered with information that the DNA stems directly from the Ur-Quattro, when in fact we're getting a turbocharged version of the American Jetta's engine. Marketing created soul.

And again I'm not debating the car is great. I personally think it's a fantastic machine.

 

[Merc1]

Corporations don't have a soul, only a work ethic and philosophy or in short a way of doing business. It is in the cars where the difference lies. A Lexus simply doesn't look, drive, smell, feel or anything else like a Mercedes, BMW or Audi or a Jaguar. All of which would be ok if they weren’t so damn generic from hood to trunk.

Of course all companies are run by a mix of marketing people, engineers, designers…the key is to get all of them to work together on harmony. Lexus’ problem is that their designers are cut off at the knees when designing cars for people who actually care about how cars look and feel beyond getting them from point a to point b. In this regard the Europeans kill Lexus 10 times over.

To deny that there is a certain passion at corporation like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche etc is ridiculous when they go through such efforts to make vehicles that appeal to enthusiasts and regular consumers alike. If they didn't have any passion or a different way of looking at the automobile they'd be just like Toyota....absent of anything really worth lusting over in their respective lineups.

Call it passion, soul whatever...its matterless.....the cars they (Germans) produce show that they're on something different from Toyota and Lexus.


M

 

[coolraoul]

Honestly guys.

There's no difference between Merc, Lexus, BMW and Audi.

They're just business'es with shareholders going for profit. If you like one brand better than the other, that's fine, just don't kid yourself, that there is some inherent soul in these giant corporations. Any notions of such is purely created through marketing. It may have been different in the old days, but when a company needs to talk about it's heritage to move stuff, it's quite telling.

And if a company says it's run by engineers, you can be sure the marketing department coined that phrase.

Car companies today possess the same amount of soul as companies manufacturing vacuum cleaners.

And yet, I'm no vacuum cleaner enthusiast...

EDIT: Caterham, Morgan that is soul 100%

This is a great great post.
Far from untrue.

Three points though to differentiate Lexus "vacuum cleaner" from Audi/BMW/Mercedes soul:

-The Germans still each have their own interpretation of what the perfect car is.

For Mercedes, it is the comfort and the safety (and quality, back now). All their cars tend to put the accent on these values. If you are attached to these, the Mercedes products will appeal to you.

Same with the sport, driving involvement of BMW.

Lexus totally lacks it. One model is sporty, one is comfy, the other doesn't really know... Thus it's harder for an enthusiast to feel close to this brand,as there is no common principle behind the creation of these cars..

No brand spirit at all.

- The Germans do have a glorious past, used to create an aura around the current cars and thus, by linking a car to a glorious ancester, give a car some of its spirit.

- This past makes the brand "recognizable", as you will utilize design tricks to remind people of the ancient times where everything was better. It also gives the cars a "typical" appearance, with some trademark gimmicks.

Here again, lexus totally lacks it.

I'd add a last thing: I tend to believe that Mercedes has regain some of its old spirit. Despite being now a marketing-lead giant corporation, like every other, it still allows itself useless, crazy, fascinating cars (Black Series and DTM-roadcars, SLR Stirling Moss, 65 AMG, smart Crossblade without doors/windshield...) that have no economic meaning.

A vacuum cleaner company doesn't make all-black cleaners powerful enough to suck the whole city in one swift move.

It doesn't make any economic sense, yet Daimler does (did?) it, what separates it from any other "worldwide" carmaker. Even if the uncompromized principles and engineering integrity didn't survive.

I however agree with you. Current cars from the mainstream carmakers have no real soul. However, maybe time will give one to some of them.