Mercedes May Get A December To Remember If It Can Keep The CLA In Stock

Considering the CLA has only been out for 2 months and is still awaiting it's first challenger (Audi's A3 Sedan) to come to market, I don't think saying the CLA is a huge success due to its very short sales data is accurate.

I think people are underestimating the huge impact the A3 sedan will have on this segment. I believe the CLA's sales will plummet once its competitor from Audi arrives to market in 4 months.

Again, the A3 will only steal sales from the already less than impressive A4's market share

Keep thinking the A3 sedan will cannibalize A4 sales, Car4Life. You'll reconsider your statement once the CLA's sales start falling as soon as the new A3 sedan goes on sale.

Unfortunately, A3 is nothing but just a unreliable, cheap Volkswagen trash.

It is mainly for the people who can't even afford A4, but want an Audi. And I think that's pretty sad.

It's even sadder that Mercedes-Benz launched a plastic piece of nonsense called the CLA with interior quality that is extremely pathetic. Once buyers see what Audi is offering for less money they will flock to the A3 sedan. Not only will the A3 sedan drive better and sportier than the CLA, it will come with significantly more standard equipment and cost less.

The brand image of the three-pointed star is not going to be enough to hide the cheap interior, cramped rear seat and expensive price for a well-optioned CLA.

I love this CLA...and the new C. Mercedes styling evolution has definitely won me over!

germannut lay off the audi smoke. The cla will def move more volume than the a3. Just like the c class moves more than the a4, the e sales more than the a6, and finally the S does to the a8. Americans like Mercedes more than BMW. It's a fact.

AUDI sorry*

The local dealer is coming way off price and doing discounts.

Matt Daringer, your post would explain Mercedes-Benz's god awful profit margin of 3.3%. Mercedes-Benz is using discounts to increase sales volume. It might win the 'Best-Selling Luxury Brand in the U.S. For 2014' award, but its victory won't be without severe costs to profitability. That, as CEOs know well, is not a way to achieve truly successful growth.

Audi, on the other hand, is not using such huge discounts to increase sales volume and is therefore more profitable than Mercedes-Benz. Not to mention, Audi has significant cost advantages compared to BMW and Mercedes-Benz by being part of the giant Volkswagen Auto Group.

Matt is a mercedes hater. His comments should be blocked as spam.

You can keep cost down when most of your cars are rebadged VW's. Hence the reason why Audi can only move a fraction of the cars BMW and Mercedes moves in the BMW. Answer this question you want to mention profit margins which company is actually worth more.. I'll wait germanidiot.

You can call it rebadging, Audi calls it profit growth. BMW and Mercedes-Benz might sells a few times more vehicles than what Audi sells in the U.S., but globally Audi sells a lot more than Mercedes-Benz and just slightly less than BMW.

I'll bet you BMW will be worth less in 20 years than Audi as Audi's profit margin continues to outpace BMW's and Mercedes-Benz's and that extra profit is then reinvested into the Volkswagen Group for new technologies, platforms etc. and the trend continues.

You can talk all you want about which company has the larger market value, but the profit margin is the key to sustaining that market value.