Luxury Redefined: Is $30,000 Going To Be The New Face Of Luxury?

I think the CLA has the chance to redefine the entry level class in a much more impactful way than the 1 Series or A3 did. The A3 was only offered in the US as a small wagon, and the 1 Series just was not attractive.

The key for this "new" entry point of luxury is a balanced and complete package for US offerings. The A3 was only offered as a small wagon. The 1 Series, was just not attractive. The A Class is being offered in numerous configurations, with dynamic styling.

I've seen multiple posts here about the Germans "selling out" to the mainstream market in order to compete with the buyers of Hondas, Hyundais, et al. But I don't see it that way at all. Buyers of a $30k Accord are looking for completely different things in a car than buyers of a $30k MB/BMW/Audi.

"Luxury" is a relative term. You'll get what you pay for.

I think the Audi A3 Sedan, which is destined for the U.S. market end of this year, will be the big re-definer of the luxury class.

The A3 brings Audi's brand image of "Sporty and Luxurious" to the sedan body style young U.S. consumes are after. The A3 sedan is indeed the "complete package" cidflekken mentioned. The design is attractive, interior is top-notch, with Quattro it's dependable in all seasons, and it drives well enough for the class.

I agree the BMW 1-series is not very attractive even though it drives well.

Mercedes-Benz has an image problem of being an "old man's car" in the eyes of young 30 and 40-somethings looking to buy their first luxury car. This is one of the reasons why young, wealthy Chinese buyers are turning to Audi and BMW and, as a result, Mercedes-Benz is faltering badly in China.

BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz are public companies that have a responsibility to provide profits to their shareholders. How a company achieves its profit is certainly important and if it simply means offering cheaper, more-affordable models, luxury carmakers will do it and they already have.

Just look at BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz in the premium luxury segment. Look at Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, and Aston Martin in the ultra luxury segment. Everyone is doing it.

The CLA will be the redefiner of the entry class, since it will be the first sedan in this segment to market, beating the A3 sedan, and 2 series GC. Also the CLA is a very good looking car which helps.

One reason why the A3 and 1 series may not have sold as well as originally planned was how they looked and lack of space. The original 1 series was pretty cramped. The A3 only came in a wagon. The new A3 will come in as a sedan and the one series replacement has a longer wheelbase.The CLA looks very attractive and should also do quite well. Further FWD is somthing most people are comfortable with today. As for the fact that large midsize FWD cars from VW, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai,Kia, Ford, and Chevy etc. are priced similarly don't really matter. They are not considered luxury or near luxury cars.Anything from Audi BMW, Mercedes, Infiniti, Acura etc. are considered luxury cars. They have nicer finishes in the interior with better sound deadening even if they have less space.My Mini Cooper even feels like a bank vault when I open and close the door.That's what people are looking for.That intangable quality that they are driving somthing a bit more special.

First-to-market advantage for the CLA is being overly emphasized. If Audi brings the A3 sedan to the marketplace within a year of the CLA and provides a much better product any advantage the Mercedes-Benz CLA had due to the fact it was first to market should be canceled out.

I really honestly think that MB will sales tons of this because a lot of people will buy this car instead of a Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford or Hyundai for around $30,000.

You might be right but the car is "ugly".

You probably don't want to go there since I here that quite a bit everytime I pull in with my Lexus; which is not even the rebadged Camry (ie ES 350) it actually is the top of the line model.

Sorry, meant "hear" LoL!

An Audi badge and Audi build quality along with interior refinement certainly do make it a luxury car.

"Drivers have spoken. In a study of new-vehicle owners, the Audi A8 was awarded "Highest Ranked Vehicle Appeal among Large Premium Cars" by J.D. Power and Associates.*"

How about the countless number of residual value awards for Audi models.

Nutt. I mean germannut, the A8 should be the most appealing, it's also the newest. Bad news for the A8 is the King of it's class for well forever is about to make it's entrance. The S-class runs the Large Prem Luxury brand. And just like the 221, Im sure the next S will be the stand along winner in it's class.

segment sorry not brand.

The differences model-to-model with the German brands is negligible and at the end of the day, it comes down to consumer tastes. Clearly, consumers have chosen what MB and BMW are offering, much more than Audi. That's not saying that Audi offers an inferior product. Whether it's brand recognition, perceived prestige, luxury, fun to drive, or whatever, consumers are making their choices pretty clear.

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There, GermanNut, just saved you the trouble of continuing to post anything in the rest of this thread.

The styling of this car is so overwrought! It will still sell well because of the badge.

not feeling this car at all..... the idea of a Baby- CLS is not a good when the dimensions are this small.... not attractive at all.

Pretty nice body. Except for the taillights, a nice design.
When they start cutting prices, they start cutting options. The C-class doesn't even offer a heated steering wheel in their premium package and BMW uses cheap looking plastic now (they let the imperfections in the plastic moulding ship where if it was my car, I'd demand them replace it with a perfect mould).

I guess its for people who value the name more than the actual car.

A3 is a nice car for the price but it sorely needs a redesign.
1 series is missing 2 doors.

The new MB front end across the lineup has a decidedly unfriendly "pit bull" look. Seriously crude and repulsive.

Looks good except the front end has way too much overhang. All of that overhang ruins the proportions of what could have been the best looking compact luxury car. Looks great from the A pillar back though. The front axle needs to be extended forward by about 4 or 5 inches for this to look balanced.

The bottom two pics just scream under-steer with all that extra overhang past the front axle.

Ugly car,but nicely done interior.......