New c class

ofcork

New c class launched today here,looks the most stylish in the sector imo should sell well.

mickdw

Yep certainly looks the business but the pricing seems a bit strong.
45 to 48k for abit of spec in a diesel.
It's supposed to be an A4 / 3series rival but that puts it into A6 / 5 series / XF territory.

EGriff

There's something really off about the front of it, same as the E-class. Much prefer it with this style of grille:



Either way the old model was much nicer imo.

mickdw

C Class V S Class




Its quite similar. I like this new C Class

Dia1988

I think the Grill is far too large for the proportion of the bonnet and headlights.

But what would I know, I would pick the Lexus IS and that has a huge Grill! :-)

BHP

I see the petrol models are cheaper than the diesels. Like back to the differences prior to 2008

mickdw

They are all overpriced anyway imo. Even so, why are they not pushing these bigtime. I know its just out and will sell at the start but mercedes dont seem to push sales at all. I think anything below S Class should be pushed with national advertising, pcp finance etc.
They have imo a good range at the minute but mercedes and their dealers just dont seem arsed.
You will see advertising for the New C Class but unlike BMW and Audi, they wont mention PCP deals only the retail price. They are dropping sales hand over fist because of this.

Drummerboy08

Mercedes are trying to keep the exclusive element of their brand, which I think is a smart move.

BMW and Audi to a degree have bought the market with high GFV's to give a low monthly rental, the market is flooded with 5 series and A6 at the minute. They're everywhere.

Mercedes is still selling away slowly, and I think that they'll start taking BMW and Audi customers back shortly because of this.

lomb

I got a pcp quotes on an A4 The gfv didn't strike me as high but rather low, I think it was around 35 or 40%?
The monthlys were huge I think base a4 would cost over 10k a year in losses. That's equal to a 200 grand mortgage and I know which is the better buy. They aren't even that good.
Same with the C class, the recent old model was ok but not worth 40 grand. The materials used and size showed it up to be a budget machine.
Across the water the C class will probably lease at around 5k euros a year all in which is reasonable.

mickdw

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Mercedes are trying to keep the exclusive element of their brand, which I think is a smart move.

BMW and Audi to a degree have bought the market with high GFV's to give a low monthly rental, the market is flooded with 5 series and A6 at the minute. They're everywhere.

Mercedes is still selling away slowly, and I think that they'll start taking BMW and Audi customers back shortly because of this.

So Mercedes are happy being trounced in sales numbers? It is the only thing that would make sense.
I agree that S Class should be exclusive and E class possibly should not be within reach of your average punter but they really should be pushing the C Class to young professionals and they are all buying on pcp deals.

Drummerboy08

Mercedes will struggle in the PCP dept because they don't have a finance arm like BMW or Audi. There is something coming on stream soon but I dont think it'll be anywhere near as competitive as the other two.

Leonard Hofstadter

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Mercedes are trying to keep the exclusive element of their brand, which I think is a smart move.

BMW and Audi to a degree have bought the market with high GFV's to give a low monthly rental, the market is flooded with 5 series and A6 at the minute. They're everywhere.

Mercedes is still selling away slowly, and I think that they'll start taking BMW and Audi customers back shortly because of this.

That to be fair is very noble of them, Merc really are the only aspirational brand these days, with BMW selling poverty spec 518ds, four cylinder X5s (and 7 series from next year onwards), front wheel drive etc etc, they've devalued the brand so much it might as well be a Toyota or Ford (especially with Toyota now using their dreadful N47 diesel engine).

And Mercs have got their reliability back, of course they'll never be as good as the 80s and early 90s cars, but they're still comfortably better than modern BMWs (which admittedly isn't hard at all).

R.O.R

captainspeed wrote: »

That to be fair is very noble of them, Merc really are the only aspirational brand these days, with BMW selling poverty spec 518ds, four cylinder X5s (and 7 series from next year onwards), front wheel drive etc etc, they've devalued the brand so much it might as well be a Toyota or Ford (especially with Toyota now using their dreadful N47 diesel engine).

Most E-Class sold are E200Cdi models - 136ps. BMW recently introduced a 518d and you call that poverty spec? 143ps with Leather, Nav & Xenon's.

ML250CDi - ever heard of it? Was around quite a bit before the 4 cylinder X5.

S250Cdi - ever heard of it? Been around quite a while, so way before BMW offer a 4 cylinder premium car.

But, BMW have really devalued their brand, whereas Mercedes have kept theirs? By selling cr@p at a high price?

Stanlex

The Lexus LS below has a very nice starting price so I would go for that instead.:P Bear in mind that's an S-Class rival.

Dia1988

Stanlex wrote: »

The Lexus LS below has a very nice starting price so I would go for that instead.:P Bear in mind that's an S-Class rival.

I've never heard of a Lexus NX??

and I consider myself a Lexus enthusiast.

Stanlex

Dia1988 wrote: »

I've never heard of a Lexus NX??

and I consider myself a Lexus enthusiast.

Me either to be honest. Looks like a concept. Something the RX might look like.

Leonard Hofstadter

Dia1988 wrote: »

I've never heard of a Lexus NX??

and I consider myself a Lexus enthusiast.

That's because it's only just been announced! First Toyota/Lexus in donkey's years to have a turbo as well (on the non-hybrid model):eek:!

Oafley Jones

R.O.R wrote: »

Most E-Class sold are E200Cdi models - 136ps. BMW recently introduced a 518d and you call that poverty spec? 143ps with Leather, Nav & Xenon's.

ML250CDi - ever heard of it? Was around quite a bit before the 4 cylinder X5.

S250Cdi - ever heard of it? Been around quite a while, so way before BMW offer a 4 cylinder premium car.

But, BMW have really devalued their brand, whereas Mercedes have kept theirs? By selling cr@p at a high price?

Pretty much this. Their "exclusivity" was also helped by a dreadful dealer network and an image that puts off anyone without a bus pass. The new c and a class demonstrate that they're really trying to broaden their appeal but ****ing MSL will ruin it here.

Oafley Jones

Dia1988 wrote: »

I've never heard of a Lexus NX??

and I consider myself a Lexus enthusiast.

Lexus enthusiast my arse:pac: They've been hyping this for over a year now.

Really do think the NX has the potential to easily be their most successful car in Europe.

mickdw

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Pretty much this. Their "exclusivity" was also helped by a dreadful dealer network and an image that puts off anyone without a bus pass. The new c and a class demonstrate that they're really trying to broaden their appeal but ****ing MSL will ruin it here.

Yes the dealers are laughable. I dont think it Mercedes image that puts off younger people. From what I have seen its the dealers that don't take anyone without a bus pass seriously and make no effort to sell a car to a younger person. I've been to a few and they have shown no interest.