German Luxury Automakers Doling Out Discounts To Gain Market Share

Well they need to keep it up since LEXUS is about to surpass them in sales this year. I know MB is giving away the older C-Class to make way for the new model. BMW is giving away the 6 & 7 series since they don't sell, not sure about Audi but they keep moving cars.

Unfortunately, the Europeans have no choice but to keep offering discounts on their vehicles, so that they can compete with the automotive giants like Toyota/Lexus, Honda/Acura, Nissan/Infiniti, Mazda, Subaru, Mitsubishi and Hyundai/Kia.

Morons like xjug would tell you the Japanese cars are mere appliances, but he obviously doesn't know the fact that the German cars nowadays are nothing but cheap, trashy cars for attention whores & posers. I mean, I believe Lexus IS-F came up with the idea of exhaust sound coming out from the audio system, and eventually BMW learned it from Lexus. Was it Jeremy Clarkson? He stated Ferrari F12berlinetta is the only car that can come even close to "Lexus LFA". Only uneducated Europe worshippers would tell you that LFA is just an "appliance".

And there is not a single roadster car that can truly match the greatness of Mazda MX-5. BMW tried, Mercedes tried, Audi tried. But all that they made was just a bunch of chick cars. Not a single one of them could be as fun to drive as Miata, as the Japanese really love to develop cars that are truly "Fun to drive", rather than something that goes 0 to 60 within a second (Tsuchiya once stated that he prefers cars that are fun to drive, rather than something that just goes fast. The Japanese tend to think fun to drive is everything, which is why you can see Mazda building amazingly fun to drive FWD cars all the time, when all that Audi can do is to make overpriced FWD VW). In fact, Lexus IS-F was all about fun to drive, not really about going fast. But the dumb Europe worshippers were happy with the fact that their BMW M3 (Which is now more like a soccer mom car) was faster. I mean, who can exactly tell me how BMW M3/M4 is actually "better" than an IS-F, except the fact that BMW is just a lot more overhyped brand in general?

Bad reliability and now tons of discounts. I remember even seeing a BMW 3 series being sold at even Walmart? Tsk Tsk Tsk. And I remember seeing some American guy standing next to a 3 series, making himself look as though he "made it". I just have to laugh.

And not to mention Mercedes now builds their cars in China with Beijing-Benz. And BMW even made their own Chinese brand in China to sell more cheap BMW cars in China.

Yup, I don't see how that can be considered a "luxury" brand.

The "real" cars with soul are Nissan GT-R, Mazda Miata, Acura NSX (The legend coming back), Lexus RC-F (Also coming soon, which will ultimately make Lexus a great brand again), Subaru WRX STI and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. And I guess I may add Corvette and Viper in it as well. Those are the "real" cars for men.

But unfortunately, the Europe worshippers are heavily brainwashed, they still think their 3 series or CLA are a lot more badass than Lexus RC-F, NSX, Viper or Corvette.

And also, Acura came up with SH-AWD, and BMW applied that on their X models. Toyota was the first to invent the screen that allows the driver and the passenger to see two different things (Nav for the driver and some TV show for the passenger) on one screen depending on the angle, and Germans later on said they were making this into reality? When Toyota already made it happen? I thought, is that a joke? I remember arguing with some kid who said the Germans will do it first, and did not know Toyota already made it a long ago. He was quite embarrassed.

And who made Rotary into reality? Rotary was thought to be something "impossible" by Germans, and yet, Mazda eventually made rotary cars, and they were the first.

And what else, oh, Land Rover sells a lot of junk SUVs at cheap price (Like what, 30k? Tsk Tsk Tsk) and yet, the African and the Middle-Eastern countries much prefer to drive Toyota Land Cruiser than unreliable junk like Land Rover.

Without the Japanese engineering, the world would be stuck with bad reliability and crappy engineering of BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, GM, etc.

Okay, I'll bite on a few points.

1."Acura came up with SH-AWD, and BMW applied that on their X models"

BMW introduce X drive on the 2004 X3 in 2003, Acura introduce SH-AWD in 2004 on the RL.

2. "And who made Rotary into reality?"

That would be Felix Wankel a German who patented it in 1929, NSU who now owns the patent,(Which is a company that merged into Audi). NSU contracted out the engine in 1961 to Mazda, who still pays royalties to Audi when the sell a rotary (Wankel) engine.

3.And what else, oh, Land Rover sells a lot of junk SUVs at cheap price (Like what, 30k? Tsk Tsk Tsk).

Right now the only Rover you can buy that sells for under 40k is the LR2 which start at $36,600 (new Disco sport is not available) It is the worst selling rover. Currently most Rovers are on a 4 month waiting list.

OkayiI'm done feeding the troll.

WOW are you lost, hopelessly lost.

That really is not a lot of info to counter-attack my arguments, or is it?

Because I have given you a lot of points, "a lot" of them.

And Benzes, I'm sorry, friend. But the truth just had to come out. Someone had to say it.

I mean, it's ok. No one blames you even if you drive a Mercedes made in Beijing-Benz.

Sorry, I had no idea you were just plain dumb. No Mercedes in America is made in China dummy.

Nice to see you're still going to the Li-bary to use the free internet... pathetic moron...

Well, the article, oddly, fails to mention Lexus who have the most ridiculous leasing offers on the majority of their cars today. Why would I lease a 535i for $649/month when I can lease a GS350 for $409/month? Or a 328i for $409/month when i can lease an IS250 for $299/month or an ES for $349/month.

Be careful with your numbers as you are not comparing apples to apples. But the numbers would still be in your favor.

The Euros are most decidedly buying market share. The behind-the-scenes incentives to dealers to move the metal are at a fever pitch. Audi and Mercedes are willing to lose money in the A3/CLA wars for market share.

Paying anywhere near list for an A3 or a CLA is the sign of an unintelligent buyer.

And eventually paying 100k for an S class will look like the sign of an unintelligent buyer as well in the future. Not to mention Ferrari, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Bentley and such are overpriced as well.

Finally people shall come to appreciate the greatness and quality of Lexus LS, Nissan GT-R, Corvette and Viper.

Damn a 71% increase for Audi in incentive spending..someones desperate to push some metal.

Even with a 71% increase in promotional spending...Audi still gives the least amount of incentives amongst the 3 Germans...Spending by vehicle averaged $4,912 at BMW last month, followed by $4,189 for Mercedes and $3,236 for Audi.

I agree that most of the German brands are over priced. I haven't owned one since a Rabbit race car in the mid-80s but this statement I can't let go.
"And who made Rotary into reality? Rotary was thought to be something "impossible" by Germans, and yet, Mazda eventually made rotary cars, and they were the first."
The Germans were smart enough to give up on these boat anchors as an impossible design. It was and still is. It was a horrible design. Every designer has particular goals in mind when they design anything. I can only imagine the design goals for the rotary engine. May have been something like this: Lets put our heads together and design an engine that has less torque and reliability than a Fiat. Has less HP than a Pinto and still manages to get less MPG than a 400 hp Corvette. Perfect! Mazda might not be one of the smallest car makers in Japan if it weren't for near bankrupting itself trying to make this pathetic design work. Everybody loved the way the RX7s drove and they would have sold like a 240z if they had an engine that people trusted. It would have put Mazda on the road to much greater things. They may have passed Honda & Toyota with the money ti would have generated. Think about where Datsun/Nissan would be if it weren't for the 240Z.