Natalie

From Auto Extremists....

Mercedes-Benz. Lost in the relentless media drumbeat of GM's bad news of late is the fact that DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz division continues its inexorable death spiral into becoming an also-ran luxury brand. Last Thursday, Mercedes announced a massive recall of 1.3 million cars worldwide to fix electrical and brake system flaws, which exposes M-B's recent statements to the press that their quality problems are "over" as nothing more than wishful thinking, at best. Involved are Mercedes-Benz E-Class and CLS models built between January 2002 and January 2005, which will need to have battery-control software replaced to correct reoccurring power interruptions. Other cars involved are E, SL and CLS models built from June 2001 until March, which will receive upgrades to their braking systems. DaimlerChrysler AG CEO Juergen Schrempp declared that M-B quality problems were "over" as recently as last month, and Eckhard Cordes, the new CEO of the Mercedes Car Group, echoed those comments even more emphatically, calling Mercedes-Benz quality the "best ever." We've said it before, and we'll say it again - the current Mercedes-Benz management regime is responsible for squandering the bullet-proof reputation of one of the most revered luxury brands in the world, a brand reputation based on engineering excellence and technical brilliance that was over 100 years in the making. No management group in automotive history has done less with more than Juergen Schrempp and his team. BMW, Toyota (Lexus), and now even Cadillac and Audi are hammering heretofore unassailable Mercedes-Benz from all sides and on all fronts. The "buzz" on the Mercedes-Benz brand on the street is so bad now that even the sales pros in the trenches are taking note of it at the dealer level. Mercedes' disastrous move down market in the U.S., combined with its equally disastrous quality performance, has dragged the brand down to not only being just another car company fighting for an ever-shrinking slice of the pie, but it's rapidly becoming a second-tier luxury brand after enjoying its rarefied place at the top of the U.S. market for years. Mercedes-Benz simply isn't hot any more and yet here is Juergen Schrempp blithely cruising along saying everything will be fine and that Mercedes will return to its rightful place at the top of the automotive food chain. Well, it's notgonnahappen.com, Juergen. And you and the entire board of management that has stubbornly kept you in place, even extending your contract, are ultimately to blame. Because any other executive at any other car company responsible for one of the biggest brand collapses in automotive history would have been shown the door years ago. Keep watching this space, folks, because we are witnessing the self-destruction of one of the most famous brands in the world right before our eyes - and we'll be reporting it every excruciating step of the way.

swisstrader

Yup, a whole slew of articles out there around quality and this guy sounds especially bitter about the recent onslaught. For example, this guy mentions BMW as one of the car makers that's making a full frontal attack on MB, but truth be told, BMW has seriously been left at the starting gate with respect to anything new and exciting in their lineup. Anyone else see the new 3 series?...YUK!...and Cadillac and Audi he says?...not even close to what MB has delivered to date and funny for me how some folks have a short term memory for what almost put Audi out of business not so many years ago around cars that would lunge forward while in park.

adam76

as a kid, my neighbor was one of the proud Audi owners with the sudden accelerataion "option", accept his went at a stop light!!!! so ever since, ive stayed well clear of audi, that flaw is enough to keep me away for life!!

swisstrader

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Same for me....the wife loves Audis and I must say that her Quattro of some years ago was a workhorse like no other...thankfully we sold it before all the bad press for Audi....also, talk about a car company that needs a facelift!

HRSL1702

This would suggest MB were still building cars with the problem components in March. Mine rolled out the factory last week so from a selfish point of view, am hoping it's OK. For everyone else, hope the 'fix' is straight-forward and not a sign of underlying reliability issues with our beloved CLS

Guys like the one who wrote that article = tossers with typewriters

Shine_1023

Due to ridiculous Euro exchange rate here & many other places, Mercedes sales declined seriously.
Who need an expensive & regular recalled Mercedes over a cheaper & quality Lexus ?

except the unique CLS we choose, still waiting for the fix solution though.

eagleeye

That author has an axe to grind. Extremely overstated.