Hot! Mercedes-Benz, What's Next?

[Swissbob]

In fairness it might only be ~10% of the market, but for some brands it's still a much larger percentage of their sales as the people that do want diesel will go to the brands that sell them. 25% of VW & Skoda sales in Germany are diesel, 20% of Mercedes' German sales, 33% of Ford's, 38% of Citroen's (77% of DS's) and 60% of Fiat's in Germany. The trend here possibly being that people buying commercial vehicles still lean towards diesel.

Diesel still makes sense in commercial vehicles,Campers,Pickups, SUVs which often tow, and for field representatives who drive a lot.

The Range Rover ,Defender,GLS,GLS,X5,X7,G Class,Q7 are examples where the diesel is the best choice.
If you’re not driving 90% of the time short distances.

 

[Matski]

The Range Rover ,Defender,GLS,GLS,X5,X7,G Class,Q7 are examples where the diesel is the best choice.
If you’re not driving 90% of the time short distances.

Perhaps, but in Germany last year all of those models accounted for the sum total of 27 Diesel cars.

 

[Tuffode]

Really of pisses me off they made all these dumb ass decisions 5 years ago, that any one of us on these forums would have avoided. When the C Class came out they didn’t put a 6 Cylinder cause it didn’t “fit”. Obviously we knew that was a bullshit excuse considering they are the ones engineering the cars. So now if I want a preowned fun Mercedes my only options will be like 7 years old plus, going to have to wait for 2030 at least for these new cars to come down cause I for sure am not gonna be taking the load in the mouth that is German car depreciation.

 

[Rolf]

Yea it's bafflingly bad.

Thank God we have the last 20 pages of people talking about powerful V8 and I6 engines......which will be non factors for the largest markets on the planet (EU and China). Black Series and Mythos and whatnot are just utterly meaningless in the grander scheme of things, and MB focusing on this only highlights how lost they are.

MB is thoroughly f#cked up, and this marketing campaign they've started only highlights their weak position.



And we have a winner...

Ola is a 100% certified idiot.

All the legacy auto makers are suffering in China and US at present, due to the buyers of EV´s in China preferring local EV brand cars and then the US with their f&cked up tariffs. Honda suffered a massive $6bill loss in 2025 due to poor EV sales.

Major Japanese brand's crisis: Honda experience big losses as it overhauls its electric vehicle strategy for 2026

Honda has become the latest brand to be affected by the underperformance of its electric vehicles, according to reports. The brand’s EV write-offs and expenses for developing its EVs increased to nearly $2.5 billion in the nine months up to the end of 2025.

www.carsguide.com.au

 

[AbsoluteUnit]

I would venture to state that the EQE and EQS sedans would have been far more commercially successful were their exterior designs not so...alienating. The statement that M-B as a corporation and Gorden Wagener as director of design attempted to make was poorly packaged.

Which is more of an issue in execution than strategy.

 

[Design FIRST]

This leaves me emotionally removed. Not particularly "bad". Not particularly "good". Not "fish". Not "fowl".

Core segment "meat and potatoes" with few spices.

 

[Uygar]

Oh dear God.

 

[Esp5]

Which is more of an issue in execution than strategy.

Product design is a fundamental part of your strategy

 

[AbsoluteUnit]

Product design is a fundamental part of your strategy

Yes and no.
The strategy for your push in different drivetrain technologies or pushes into high-end enthusiast products can be fine and good. But if your design team creates ugly vehicles that nobody wants, the above strategy ends up not working out, even if the idea is sound in principle.

 

[AbsoluteUnit]

More to the point, if the US market wants I6s and V8s, give them I6s and V8s.

It's not like Mercedes continuing to make and develop these motors means they've complete stopped developing BEVs and PHEVs. They're still making them.

Again it's no different really to BMW continuing to offer an i6 M3 alongside an i3M. Or the fact they'll continue to make a PHEV M5. Or the fact that they still make V8 powered X5 and X7 M60s for markets that desire them.