tifosiv122

So I asked MBUSA when their site would be updated for the C320 Coupe and the C230 Sedan, here is what they said:

Erik:

The C230 Sedan and 320 Coupe are scheduled to go on line in mid January. Look for them on MBUSA.com around the 16th.

Thank you for your interest in MBUSA.com and if you have any further questions or comments, please contact us again.

Have a great 2003.

Sincerely,
Mercedes-Benz U.S.A., LLC
Website Support


Can't wait to price them out on the 16th...

Erik

BrabusCClass

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tifosiv122
[B]So I asked MBUSA when their site would be updated for the C320 Coupe and the C230 Sedan, here is what they said:

Erik:

The C230 Sedan and 320 Coupe are scheduled to go on line in mid January. Look for them on MBUSA.com around the 16th.

Thank you for your interest in MBUSA.com and if you have any further questions or comments, please contact us again.

Have a great 2003.

Sincerely,
Mercedes-Benz U.S.A., LLC
Website Support


Hmm. Weird because they are in the dealers already.

tifosiv122

Its a direct quote from them.

Erik

KWiK

That's only a week away. They probably want to give the dealers some time to maximize profits from the impulse buyers.

Matt230K

There might not be anything on the website, but there is still a window sticker on the car that shows the price. It would be hard to get a premium on a C-class.

KWiK

I wasn't thinking premium, but less of a discount since the invoice pricing isn't available yet.

Matt230K

You mean invoice pricing not available to consumers? Because the dealer should have that pricing. And it's true there wouldn't be much discount on brand new car. Probably no discount right away. However, discounts will be needed soon. My dealer has gotten 1 C230 sedan, and no one has even looked at it yet. And no incoming cars are pre-sold.

tifosiv122

Thats because MB kept this release quiet. Outside of this org, I can't find one bit of info on either car. No TV ads, no Mags, no radio ads, nothing.

Erik

GTIDAN

Matt230K

As nice as these new cars are, I think some of them are a bad idea. The C320 coupe is not necessary and I don't think that it will sell well. I hope they have limited production on these. However MB doesn't seem to limit production on anything anymore. The C230 sedan is very nice, but there are way too many C240's still around that need to be sold. So if they are going to build a lot of these 230's, I hope they build fewer 240's. I'm a lot tech and inventory on C's went from about 5 of them in 2000 to around 25 now.

Outland

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BrabusCClass
[B]Its common practice to have product on the lot before the advertising begins in earnest....studies have show that hyping a car before its available can actually loose sales, as it brings buyers out to only find that the car isn't yet available. Supposedly, a substantial portion of these people buy something else because they can't get that car.

young

what studies are those?

i believe the new sl and e were hyped beyond belief before they were available. did you see men-in-black 2?

tifosiv122

MIB2 was a C.

Besides, when the new C came out they ran thousands of big green C commercials. Personally, I think the cars that will do/sell well will be the ones the dealers are told to push, whichever they may be.

Erik

patronus

Wrong. MIB2 was the new W211 E-class.

tifosiv122

I have to watch that again, no way.

Erik

Lynn

I was definitely a 211.

tifosiv122

I take it back, your right...I thought it was a C, but now that the E's are out it is one...

Erik

Outland

MIB2 sucked ***.

I'm not saying I agree totally with the logic, but the industry does to some extent. With bread and butter type cars like Honda's Accord, or its minivan based SUV, yes, I can believe that this does happen. Those people are out buying an appliance, not a car that has them so passionate about it that they will wait.

Other cars need no hyping...the Mini, the PT Cruiser, new Z car, etc... the magazines also tend to throw a wrench in marketing plans.

And when exactly did you start seeing MINI ads? About 6 months after the cars started to trickle in. I've yet to see a single C commercial, so I can't even say when I remember them comming out...

Silver_Lana

It was a W211 E Class. I saw it with my own eyes, little red button and all. The didnt tell me what engine was in it though, probably the V8.

tommy

The MINI was pushed highly through internet marketing, well before the intro. When I put my deposit (before I switched to the ccoupe) down in June '01, there were plenty of people along with me who knew about it. Very smart campaign that they did. Of course, it's a great car, so it sold itself.

Here in the NYC area, there are C commercials all of the time.

tifosiv122

As in NJ, we get the same Ad focus.

Erik

taylor192

The only C commercial I have seen is a woman pulling up beside a bus in a C230K with the panorama roof open and a guy throwing a piece of paper with his number through the open roof from the bus... and I only saw this one a few times, since, not a single MB ad, C-class or otherwise.

MB-BOB

I guess this depends on point of view. If you believe in the long-term reliability of HP through cubic inches vs forced induction, then I think the C320 Coupe will sell very well. Especially if it's equipped standard with MB-Tex seating, Climatronic and Bose.

I also think the V6 engine gets around the objection by some against "4-Cyl hatchbacks." This is not my view, as I like the Coupe for what it is. Just saying that for those who subscribe to the "American perception of hatchbacks" dogma, availability of the V6 takes away the argument.

In contrast, the 1.8L 230K Sedan doesn't make any sense to me. IMO, they cater to two different markets. The demographic that wants a 4-door sedan (sic older) might find the low displacement 4-Cyl tuner (S/C) engine against their sense of logic. Sure, it will appeal to some... just not sure it will have wide enough appeal given the conceptual differences. I think the younger crowd wanting the tunable nature of the S/C engine will opt for the sportier looking Coupe in larger numbers.

Time will tell, of course. Just some random thoughts.

taylor192

The 2 statements kinda conradict themselves...

The C230K sedan and C320 coupe might have a market for the inbetween people, wanting to mod the vehicle and have a sedan, or looking for a long term vehicle but want aggressive styling... how big this market is, who knows... but I see a lot of older C230 Kompressor sedans around town...

Matt230K

When this car was available, the only other option in the C was the C280 (besides the C43). But I believe that the C230 was easier to get as there were more produced. And I think it was also faster than the inline-six C280.