Both.
Yes I remember.Remember when the rear view mirror in the SL and S/CL was part of the seat memory and would physically adjust itself ?
One armed wiper, headrests that dropped in the rear
On the contrary, as I said, for most people IT IS the main factor in the purchase, supported by studies and obviously common sense. Ask yourself why you decide to buy a particular car?
That's your respectable opinion and that of a few others, but people and sales figures say otherwise. People don't buy (generally) cars that they find ugly and disproportionate, especially in the premium segment. Just because you or a few others think so doesn't mean it's set in stone.
That's the point, those aren't selling well either. Mercedes will sell almost 200,000 fewer cars this year than last year (-9% year-to-date through the end of September), and they had already sold fewer in 2024 compared to 2023, so they are losing sales.
Bla bla bla. Who the f*ck is “we” that some of you keep saying? According to who? Looks like you guys are the real experts now since you can speak on the behalf of people, lol. I’ll say again, they’re ugly, to you. Your beliefs don’t mean it’s the truth. And usually it’s the exact opposite, people buy these cars because of their looks. At least that’s the case with BMW. Saying “appearance is not a factor” is a straight up bullsh*t. If it wasn’t a factor then people would buy the EQ cars and Mercedes would never need a different design language. There was nothing wrong with them except the styling yet that was the main reason for people to not get them.
They were not only some of the most beautiful models Mercedes has ever made, but the W205/W214/W222 were also groundbreaking and radically different from their immediate predecessors, which is the complete opposite of the current models that are just evolutions of those and which prove my point with stagnant or mostly declining sales.
Finally someone can understand my point of view. Thank god. Saying “design is not a factor” was one of the most absurd things I’ve ever read.
If the EQ's designs had been more like those of regular Mercedes, perhaps it would have sold well. I mentioned it parenthetically above. So, it seems you don't need outlandish designs to sell well. The automotive industry doesn't operate in line with the boring factor you constantly criticize in terms of design. That's not the case with BMW either. You should be talking about numbers, not inferences. That's what I do. I recommend looking at sales data over the last 10 years. Radical designs had no impact on sales. In fact, when the F10, F30.. returned to its conservative design style, sales exploded.
www.statista.com
You're proving my point, the step from the E60 to the F10 was totally radical, two completely different cars and the F10 sold even more than the E60, but the G30 (a timid evolution of the F10) was not as successful, selling considerably less than its competitor the W213 in their respective life cycles (the F10 sold much more than the W212 under the same conditions).
The W205 and W213 received significant criticism compared to their predecessors, both in terms of design and quality. People had difficulty distinguishing the designs of these series. It wasn't a problem for me, but the general consensus was this. Despite this, sales were very good. The W214 was a good design update, but I don't know its impact on sales because official data hasn't been released.
Yes, It's a shame, a great CEO who steered the ship very well through this current global storm.
People might criticize the F10 and F30 for looking like an old BMW and not want to buy them. I think you're making up your own mind. The W212 was also a radical change compared to the W211, but how successful was it?
For me, those two are the most beautiful Mercedes since the W201 and the W124, worthy successors in design, although yes, the interior quality was deplorable.
Error, the F10, as I said, was a completely new and radical vision of the classic silhouette compared to its predecessor, the E60. The F10 remains a great design to this day.
Good point with a simple explanation: the W212 just ended up being a bad design that people didn't like and it was a big failure, remember its LCI? Just because it's radically different doesn't make it good in itself.
This was my argument: Just because a design is different or bold doesn't mean it's good. I thought the 212 was much better than the 213. The 222 design was better than the 223, but sales were the opposite.
