Hot! Best pics of the next S-class yet

. . . its kind of boring - and anyway if the new model collapses on its suspension and continues the reliability of the current model (which Consumer Reports says is the most unreliable sedan sold in the US) no one will buy it anyway.

To RaceRock98 and Ray: actually I did own a current generation S Class and it did collapse on its suspension - and this was not an isolated incident - you often see S Class and CL Class vehicles (particularly 2000 and 2001 model years collapsed on their air suspension). There's one in the garage of the highrise in which I live now.

Rather than call anyone else's comments "idiotic" you could engage in a debate or better still get yourselves more educated. You could read the latest editions from Consumer Reports, Car and Driver, as well as get more familiar with the German press - Merc sales are tanking while BMW rise and Lexus are flat. Merc is an aspirational brand whose products don't match the consumer's expectations. Thats why in the US, Lexus customers buy another Lexus at a higher rate than Merc buyers buy another Merc, and why BMW can increase vehicle sales despite "ugly" designs.

RaceRock98
In some markets in Europe BMW's are much more common than some of the Japanese brands, and Mercedes are taxicabs. Exclusivity is not what Mercedes and BMW are all about.

When I lived in the UK the BMW 3 series was often in the top ten selling vehicles - hence it had no exclusivity - what it BMW owner got was a brand built on engineering excellence and driving control.

Now to your question - why do folks on MTV have MB and Range Rovers - well its all about the "bling". Note that the vehicles are generally the high end ones, not the C Class or SLK. They are "show off" vehicles. That's why you can see the Maybach, Rolls Royce, Bentley and high priced MBs in MTV videos. If Lexus introduces its $100K supercoupe then I would expect to see it in the videos and in the artists garages on MTV cribs.

In marketing studies it can be shown that demand for some products goes up as the price goes up. In other words value (loosely defined as capability divided by price) does not always drive demand - if it did the VW Phaeton would be selling better and the Bentley Continental Flying Spur would not be introduced. Also Rolex watches would be a hell of a lot cheaper.

You can buy a vehicle for many reasons and value is just one, there are many emotional reasons and that's why Jaguars and Land Rovers do so well despite their reliability challenges.

There's also ignorance - I think its ok to buy a MB, Range Rover, Jaguar, or for that matter a Yugo because you like the style, the economy, the performance, the ride etc etc as long as you aware of the risks - my belief is that most buyers don't know the risks.

Maybe my "Bashing" is a wasted effort because all Autospies readers are well versed in all the latest studies, sales numbers, etc. etc., however I doubt it. The general population has no idea how much lustre has come off the MB brand - and I suspect many Autospies readers are similarly in the dark.

Its only recently that the general press has started picking up on the MB story - and that may be because MB has been releasing press releases about its senior management shuffles, its collapsing profitability, its reliability issues with the diesel E Class in Europe, its worldwide sales declines (which are in sharp contrast to BMW).

Funny thing is MB are masters of the brand game. The senior management there knows the importance of maintaining a strong brand (it allows you to be "aspirational" and to command premium prices compared to competitors' offerings). Some of the recent articles on MB say that despite its profits declining by around 97%, MB may actually increase advertising spending in order to prop up its brand until totally new models (engineered from the start to be more reliable) can be introduced in a couple of years.