2015 Mercedes C-Class Interior Official Pictures
Super Moderator
Joined: Jun 2008
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
Indeed. SA plastics, fabric & leather is the most UV stable in the Benz & BMW world. To say the least of finish.
Super Moderator
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 19,942
Likes: 192
From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
Let me pass a final comment in this thread unless it changes direction. It is starting to sound like everything that is wrong with corporate America of which I have been part of for my entire supermajor oilco career.
Namely ~ we know it all ~ you can't tell us anything. The truth is that they are sometimes wrong even in their own market & generally wrong internationally. US business models do not translate well to international markets. It is the reason that so many US Corporations are not extracting the potential earnings from foreign markets that they should. I could name a long list of companies as an example.
I am willing however to name a few Corporations that get it correct in international markets. Namely BASF & Unilever due to an open mind to thinking globally but acting locally. Many could learn from them.
Before I'm accused of being anti American. Nothing could be further from the truth. I love the US, I lived there for a long while & some of my finest friends are American
'nuff said!
Namely ~ we know it all ~ you can't tell us anything. The truth is that they are sometimes wrong even in their own market & generally wrong internationally. US business models do not translate well to international markets. It is the reason that so many US Corporations are not extracting the potential earnings from foreign markets that they should. I could name a long list of companies as an example.
I am willing however to name a few Corporations that get it correct in international markets. Namely BASF & Unilever due to an open mind to thinking globally but acting locally. Many could learn from them.
Before I'm accused of being anti American. Nothing could be further from the truth. I love the US, I lived there for a long while & some of my finest friends are American
'nuff said!
Member
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 118
Likes: 1
From: BLR-BFL-LAX
2015 Acura TLX
against, honestly i dont know why the navi/infotainment screen has become such a big deal. I urge people to go sit in the CLA and see it for yourself in person. I actually like it because its closer to my eyes (i put my seat all the way back) than the current hooded in dash screen. The closer it is to my eyes, the less time i have to spend taking my eyes off the road...
Super Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 702
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From: Illinois
'08 C300 4Matic Sport, '02 530i
Nobody in this thread argued that the new screen is not functional. It is obviously functional. It's the aesthetics that people are complaining about. It just looks out of place, not seamlessly integrated with the rest of the interior, like an afterthought. But that's just pictures. I agree that in person it may not look as bad.
Super Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 584
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From: Los Angeles
2012 C250 Sport
In all seriousness, though, I do like conservative. Conservative usually ages well and is usually pretty reliable....
Member
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 118
Likes: 1
From: BLR-BFL-LAX
2015 Acura TLX
Nobody in this thread argued that the new screen is not functional. It is obviously functional. It's the aesthetics that people are complaining about. It just looks out of place, not seamlessly integrated with the rest of the interior, like an afterthought. But that's just pictures. I agree that in person it may not look as bad.
, but then i sat in the car, it looked pretty good to me...you dont really notice the back of the screen or anything anyways.
Super Moderator
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 19,942
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
Maybe they need to differentiate between Luxury & Sport models in the US with a different software set. They do it with AMG.
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 4,846
Likes: 291
From: Dallas TX
2013 650i Coupe, 2010 IS250 AWD, 1999 S500
No not lost, except to figure out how to explain this to someone who hasn't worked in the auto industry for 30 years. I guess it's my past teaching experience that I haven't given up before now. Last try:
- The profit comes not from the transmission but from avoiding volume decrement, and associated vehicle margin, for manual buyers. (Side note: manual transmissions typically have higher variable cost than do automatics, so profitability does favor standardizing automatics for lower cost and higher revenue as a priceable feature in the pricing roll up.) I used Designo as an example of a profitable low volume item, with tremendous APEI complexity, although the point apparently was not clear.
- 5% is adequate vehicle volume to offset most costs (including N.A. certification) and be reasonably profitable, but possibly not versus plant facilitization issues. 5% is accurate demand. "NO" is not. At a 3% build, they stocked out and left unmet demand in the market.
- But, back to the original and key point, MBUSA thinks they are making "serious drivers cars", witness their C Class marketing/advertising strategies. The fallacy of their premise was the earlier point you actually contested with finding "sportiness" in larger, all automatic cars C Class cars. That is how this discussion started and was the primary point before the manual trans tangent became dominant. I'm glad we are back to the original topic that MBs (other than AMG) are even less and less sporty/serious driver's cars. It seems we finally found some agreement.
1. Tell it to Mercedes-Benz USA as you seem to know better than they do. Apparently they disagree.
2. Ditto
3. It's all marketing. BMW does the same thing and they stopped making the ultimate driving machine years ago.
Mercedes' were never serious drivers cars. Again. NEVER. If you wanted a more serious car you have to buy an AMG. Not sure why you thought otherwise.
M
Last edited by Germancar1; Oct 30, 2013 at 06:34 PM.
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Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 253
Likes: 2
From: Brooklyn, NY
2021 GLB35, 2007 E350, 2014 ML350 4Matic, 2008 C350 Sport
I haven't had time to read through this whole thread, but I'll say I can't believe MB put those 3 AC vents smack in the middle of the dash. They are overpowering, vents should not be so obvious.
