trueblue_ips

Hey, does anyone think Mercedes will release the new C450 in some interesting colours. Can the Mercedes plants only spray four colours? Black, grey, silver and white. WTF? Where are the blues, the reds? Or even colours like bronze?
BMW do some fab colours with ones such as Estoril blue.

Mr Enigma

You can get blue, red & a brown colour if you want...

Sportstick

And Valencia Orange! Here is what replaced my Palladium Silver W204 on the one day I still had them both.

trueblue_ips

Ok, admittedly they do one red and a fairly dull blue but the rest are all shades of black, grey, silver and white. Two shades of black and two of white.

That's looking at the UK website building a c200.

trueblue_ips

Love the Orange.

bensales

Red's awesome, I've got red...

Glyn M Ruck

The US plant is the only one with restricted colours to my knowledge.

ManiacGT

The dull blue is only on the saloon. The estate/wagon gets brilliant blue which is what I'll be getting.

mdsbuc

For the case of the U.S. the OP is pretty much right. The blue that is available here is so dark that it nearly looks black under most light. The beautiful red that is available in Europe is not available here. Those of us that want colors other than what 80% of the world drives, are pretty much out of luck.

StanNH

They have enough trouble just putting the car together ... more color choices would just add to the confusion.

Mark's M

Good one lol!

synaptik

i would definitely like a younger, brighter blue than what's currently available.

mihaelb

The brown actually looks like bronze on the CNET review here: haven't seen one in the flesh yet, though, so can't confirm.

Jaxwired

Agree with OP, US color selection is sadly lacking in anything youthful and fun. A shame.

ibeforreal

The bronze is a very nice color and attracts a lot of attention. However, resell will such because very few people will like that color.

Glyn M Ruck

With modern automated painting plants this should not be an issue. This is another strange MBUSA decision. More colours add ordering complexity though.

Sportstick

Three key points impact the planning of color choices.

1) How many paint guns were in the original facilitization? It is possible to run cleaning periods for guns to be used for different colors, but it is costly and takes one out of production for that period. It's a process the plant wishes to avoid. I recall having to lobby for this at one of our truck plants when we very much wanted bright yellow for a special model run. The plant pushed back big-time, but eventually we found a compromise which allowed us to get the special model produced.

2) Outsourced painted parts, such as fascias, are large, taking up floor and storage space. Fascias are not painted in the plant. An ideal number is identified, let's say 10 colors, and then the Design Office is charged to work within that number as it sees fit. If you come to the station where fascias are installed, you will see multiple shipping racks dedicated to each available color.

3) Paint waste. If a color is thought to be a lower take rate, spoilage and waste can occur. The ideal setup for 10 colors is a 10% take rate for each. But if a beautiful but rarely ordered color becomes a 3-5% rate or less, it requires additional maintenance in the plant, via agitation of the incoming barrels to keep the suspension properly mixed, and eventually remaining waste occurs. The way it was budgeted at my old place, the plant took the financial hit, so they are highly motivated to get back to as close as Henry Ford's philosophy as possible...be glad they really aren't just all black! It's an interesting interpersonal dynamic to sit in a meeting when a "plant guy/gal" gets up in the face of the the "design/color" guy/gal. Guess who usually withers first?

mdsbuc

That it would, but it seems that if it can be done in German and South African plants, it should be able to be done here in the U.S. as well.

In the U.S. the BMW dealers tend to stock the boring colors for the masses. It's very difficult to find a color like Estoril Blue in stock on the dealer' lot. Enthusiasts though, know about Estoril Blue, and a good number of them opt for it by way of factory orders through their dealer. Some of you on other continents may not know that in the U.S. the very large majority of buyers purchase right off the lot, driving the new car home the very day they see one that they like. Most Americans have little patience.

Anyway, the point is that even though the BMW dealers mostly stock boring colors, at least BMW North America leaves the option available to those who want something a little more exciting.

vic viper

When car parks in the US looks like this, what is the need for different colors?



image uploading

mdsbuc

Very interesting! That also explains why one will have to pay a little more for Estoril Blue on the bimmers, since it is only available with the M Sport package.

Sportstick

Not a typical car-park and these are not retail units. You found a shot of production of identical fleet units awaiting delivery. See the extra silver-capped light on the passenger A-pillar and steel wheels? These are likely police cars on their way for more graphics before delivery.

But, I get your overall point. Most cars in the US are boring colors.

Sportstick

Actually, reds are the most expensive pigment from the manufacturing cost point of view. Paint pricing is based on what the market will bear and BMW does charge extra for many paints. I paid a price of $550 for Valencia on my non-MSport 228i. I can relate many examples where price and cost are not correlated, except to ensure that profit margins are always accounted for! The historical example being the less-costly automatic transmission being optionally priced above the more-costly standard manual transmission. (New automatics may have changed this, but this was true for most of the last century at least.) I remember business cases where we proposed standardizing automatic as a cost reduction, only to find the financials failed due to loss of the option profit from not charging each buyer who selected the automatic!

mdsbuc

LOL, It's not quite that bad. That looks like a lot full of Police cars, ready for outfitting and paint. Sprinkle in some black, gray, and silver cars and it's perfect!

vic viper

Of course I am aware that the above cars arnt actual parked cars, what I meant was that white as a car color is pretty dominant in the US.

Glyn M Ruck

+1 UV stable reds over a long period of time.