Is Mercedes Benz Making A Bonehead Move Here?

Why surprised? In Europe, Mercedes produces cheap cars too, and sells the cars with the same skins worldwise.

wouldnt the best car in the world also make the best fleet car in the world? shoot if i was ceo of benz i would sell luggage with the 3 pointed star on it.

they do.
in most of the brochures there are adverts to get your own laptop case and luggage set.

This is great news for consumers who believe that Mercedes plays on its brand name to keep its cars overpriced. By selling zillions of cars to fleets, Mercedes will have to increase production and therefore achieve greater economies of scale. This should allow Mercedes to offer very competitive prices and stop blackmail marketing practices like charging extra for most paint colors on the C-Class. Don't get me wrong -- I think Mercedes makes some of the finest cars in the world; I just hate the way they price certain options by forcing customers to buy a package that contains useless options along with the options they desire instead of making the desirable options stand-alone ones. I absolutely hate the extra paint charges on the C-class and that is one of the reasons I leased an Audi A6 instead of a Mercedes C-Class.

I agree with your points... except the A6 competes with the E-Class. Yes, the E is overpriced, but the difference between it and the A6 is smaller than that of the C and A6.

I don't think it's over priced. It's a nice place to be. Very quiet as well. I own an E500 and I like it. I do like the A6 though it's also very nice.

I didn't really mean it that way-- my wife and I both drove the E350 4Matic when we were looking to replace the RX330 last year. I was also going to try on the E550 for size, but she needs a backup camera (she's addicted), so it's down to the S550 4Matic in the Mercedes lineup. I love the S, but do I want to pay $100K? I guess I'll lease it...

mercedes always hold's it's value the best (except a couple of cases ie old ML class and the old C).
but it doesn't hurt sales, nobodiy's put off by it. gm just gives excuses.

and i've just remembered i just got back from spain and there were hundreds of rental B classes!

Great...now the number of recalls will rise, and may hurt their image even more. Considering their quality issues today, I honestly hope they have found the solution to their manufacturing methods, especially going fleet will require higher production at a more efficient quality rate. We'll see...

"Quality" is so vague. In terms of materials, I'd review my statement if I were you. The new S-Class and CL-Class have interiors beyond any car at that pricepoint- their materials are on par with, if not superior to, the Bentley Continental family. As for reliability, neither has had their specs released yet, so I can't vouch. But the fact that these flagship models are so hugely improved over the last-gen versions says a lot about how determined Mercedes is to polish their already-enviable image. In terms of favorite car brands, MBZ is right up there with Audi for me. There's no sedan I'd rather own than an S63 AMG.

***Except, I must add, if I wanted a REAL performance sedan, I'd take the RS4 in two seconds. S63 AMG would be good if I wanted something more comfortable, and more about speed... but RS4 has the best handling of any German sports sedan on the road.

Which will soon change with the release of the 2009 M3

Nah won't hurt them at all, Mercedes have always had sales to fleets in Europe....uping the sales I am sure will just bring in more profit for them. We won't see any of this transpire in the US of course. I remember my first time in Europe I was horrified at how Mercedes had hubcaps and cloth seats! LOL I was a kid at that time but it amazed me to see them as taxis. Cause in the US Mercedes is soooo snooty and a "rich person's" car....where in Germany, to Germans they are like their version of Ford to Americans. I mean you have the A-Class all the way to AMG SL55 and seems like everybody and their mother drives one there...You see soooo many on the road.

Fleet sales=company cars in Europe. That is how a lot of people get cars in Europe.

yes, leasing is a lot less commmon here.
That's why cars like the 3 series are so prolific, people have them as company cars as with the right (ie small diesel) engines, the company car tax is low, and resale is strong so having a 320d is a fairly standard choice.

This is no bonehead move by MB.

Sell them cars and make Toyota cry.

This will not hurt Mercedes in any way. And, if anyone thinks this will affect Mercedes prices, think again. Their prices are set how they are because that's how they want them. Not because of limited quantities of cars or any other reason. I agree that MB charges for options on cars that should be standard, but that's what you have to deal with them buying what's classified as a "luxury" car. You're all ready spending the money for the car, so a few extra thousand in options (that should be standard) are not going to deter most people from buying the car. It's a smart business strategy in terms of profitability.

Other companies don't have poor resale value because they are mass produced. They have poor resale value because they are cheap cars. I hate to say it, but Ford sucks. You will never see a high resale value on their cars because in addition to them using the CHEAPEST MATERIALS IN THEIR CARS ON THE PLANET, you'll be lucky if it lives to 100,000 miles and if it does, the interior and everything else on the car will be pealing off (literally). Don't even get me started on the mustangs. In addition to cheap ass interiors, they are overpriced for what you get. A GT500 is like $40k and has the same interior as the $17,000 model (LOL). Gotta love Ford. You get what you pay for. If you disagree with the mass produce vs. quality argument i've presented, go take a look at Acura as a prime example. Mass produced, yet they retain their value. Go look up an Acura TL USED and it just about goes for the sticker price.

I agree,

Having the A and B Class has never brought the prestige image of Mercedes down at all. I also agree with S4 that the quality in the new Merc's are on par if not better than its competition. The feel and texture of the interiors are of high European quality. I think that Merc has finally brought back what made them. Quality German Engineering.

Having the A/B/ and some C-Classes at Taxi's shouldn't hurt them in terms of sales or image. Mercedes is known world wide for it's luxury/prestige/image/history. There's a big gap between the C-class and up compared to the A&B.

Prestige factor will take a dip.

I'm guessing you live in the US. The fleet sales are for EUROPE. Mercedes is working hard to maintain its image in the US, and won't be selling the A or B here any time soon, let alone throwing Hertz C-Classes at our market.

In Europe, however, they don't really need to "maintain" their image. The A and B haven't done anything negative for the brand, nor have the fleet cars/taxis. It's the same with BMW and Audi. There are definitely stripper cars from each brand that aren't much better than a similarly equipped Toyota, but it's the flagship cars that keep them selling.

I know the fleet sales are for Europe, but eventually fleet sales may find there way to North America as well. The B Class and Smart car have been selling in Canada for years and will be heading to the U.S. soon.

There's no doubt in anyone's mind that Mercedes is concerned about their prestigious image in North America. Why else haven't we gotten the A- and B-Classes for this long? Mercedes, as all the luxury brands out there, know that North America is full of the badge-hungry people who will easily pass up a used E-Class for a newer C-Class. Can you imagine seeing the same number of A-Classes on American roads as you do Toyota Corollas? That will definitely hurt them in North America where your image is everything. My advice to Mercedes is that if you really want to send the A- and B-Classes to North America, market them under Smart.

They would never sell under Smart, they are Mercedes cars, cheap but Mercedes.