NYC-Style

Well my dealer called today to say the 2015 C class demo had arrived. I must say it really is impressive "in-person"...the interior does look and feels pretty upscale. The infotainment display added to the interior attractiveness (to me anyway). I took it for a test drive and it drove as nice as it looked. There's no doubt about the fact that it'll take sometime getting used to operating the infotainment control features. The car felt spacious and actually had that "luxury" car feel to it. Anyway you should start seeing the demo at your dealerships soon. I'm expecting a mid/late Sept delivery on my C300. I don't think you'll be disappointed...

Roger_4ever

Where are you? Are you able to officially "buy" the c300 now? ie. get the Vehicle identification number?

NYC-Style

I'm in Las Vegas...the demo was not for sale. My salesman said he's expecting a C400 to arrive within the next two weeks which is available to purchase.

Germancar1

Between the new C, GLA and S Coupe, Mercedes is going to be very busy the rest of the year. Even the CLA inventory is climbing up again. They may get me back as a new Benz owner. Looking forward to a C400 test drive.

M

MBNUT1

The CLA inventory is climbing because the A3 is (not unexpectedly) cleaning it's clock

Germancar1

Wrong. The inventory that MBUSA has to sell to their dealers is increasing. This has nothing to do with sales of the CLA vs the A3. The CLA's problem up until about June was that production was strained due to it being a hit across the globe. The CLA is actually outselling the A3 if you check the facts.

M

MBNUT1

http://www.autonews.com/article/2014...-a-run-for-its

In its first three months on the market, Audi’s A3 outsold the comparable Mercedes entry-level coupe almost 2 to 1, according to researcher Autodata Corp.

In June, the A3’s U.S. sales beat the CLA’s sales 2,452 to 1,658, according to Automotive News data.

CLA sales have dropped in seven of the past eight months, a turnabout from last year, when the sporty four-door pushed Mercedes past BMW to become the U.S. best-seller and the most successful new Mercedes model in two decades.

“CLA was the only game in town for a while, and now there’s something to compare it to,” Michelle Krebs, an analyst at AutoTrader.com, said in an interview. “If you read some of the comparison tests, the A3 is coming out on top by a long stretch.”

Germancar1

Not quite the whole or accurate story. Seriously, MBUSA announced late last year that the CLA would be in tight supply the first 6 months of 2014 and that is exactly what happened.

Now in June and July CLA sales rose each month and in July the CLA outsold the A3.

The A3 is NOT cleaning the CLA's clock in sales. You pick one month, and not the latest one to make a point.

YTD:

CLA: 12,594
A3: 9899

In July the CLA outsold the A3 and sales trending upwards because supply is better now.

M

MBNUT1

In its first three months on the market, Audi’s A3 outsold the comparable Mercedes entry-level coupe almost 2 to 1,

Germancar1

I don't know what you're point is anymore man. The CLA was supply constrained until June-July of this year. The CLA is outselling the A3 NOW. Not sure what part of that you don't get. Unless you think this is still April-June. Seriously, what part don't you get? Did you not see the YTD numbers? Even with that early success the A3 IS STILL BEHIND THE CLA IN SALES.

M

MBNUT1

Where is the data that says the CLA outselling the the A3 NOW?

Germancar1

MBUSA SALES FOR JULY AND YTD:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...269563761.html

CLA: 12,954


AUDI SALES FOR JULY AND YTD:

http://www.audiusanews.com/pressrele...onth-u.s-sales

A3: 9899


From those same sales charts, the latest full month:

JULY 2014

CLA: 2378
A3: 2164


CLA is outselling the A3 for the latest month on record and YTD.



The only reason the A3 outsold the CLA to begin with was because the CLA was production constrained, something MBUSA warned about last year and earlier this year:

http://www.autonews.com/article/2014...ot-enough-cars

They called it right down to the month:

"Mercedes-Benz would not disclose its U.S. CLA targets, but Cannon said the United States can't get a larger share until June at the earliest."

This is right when sales started to rise again for the CLA in the U.S.


They added more production/shifts in May:

http://www.autonews.com/article/2014...des-cla-output

Makes sense because June and now July sales increased here in the U.S.


M

Tjdehya

The initial CLAs sales are directly related to supply. It is not related to demand.
So if Mercedes only sold 12k cars, its not because that was the limit of the demand, its because that was the limit of production.
So if the A3 sells more than the CLA, its not because its "cleaning it's clock" its because Audi is able to produce and sell more A3s than MB is able to produce.

I dont know what the sales figures are (I don't care) but its a well know fact that MB is unable to produce enough CLAs to meet the global demand.

Germancar1

And "sales" aren't even customer sales. The numbers that each manufacturer puts out every month is the number of units they ship/sell to dealers, not what is actually sold to a live person. To track true sales you have to tap into the world of registration figures.

M

MBNUT1

Couple of comments
1. You can't compare ytd figures because the A3 was launched on April 3rd in the US
2. I'm actually glad to hear the CLA is outselling the A3 because while I wouldn't have a CLA on a bet the A3 is a consideration and poorer sales would make for a better bargaining position. I was actually bummed to read the article I quoted

Germancar1

1. Sure you can if you're going to say the A3 is outselling the CLA without ALL the facts as to why it was happening. Might as well, it is just as inaccurate. The boast about the A3 outselling the CLA meant nothing.

2. I wouldn't have either.

M

utsenmo

To me, the CLA is something new. but A3...... take a fool's money please OOOO.

I actually have driven both CLA250 (4M?) and A3 technik here in canada. CLA>A3 on my watch.

And i see much more CLAs on the road than A3s(if i ever saw any) where i live.