Hot new A238 Cabriolet soft top will start at 54,228 euros.

Read the rest on the MBWorld homepage. >>

Though that is not actually the UK pricing, it's interesting to see the German Euro prices.

It's coming in some 8k more than an equivalent saloon with same spec. That's a bloody big premium to have a fabric roof!

I see what you mean but you need to stiffen the chassis to have that cloth roof!

Yeah, saving a fair bit of metal off the doors so that cloth sure must be expensive.

What? You have to stiffen the chassis/structure of the car no matter what the roof material is. Metal off the doors? What??

M

There is a cost to building an entirely different car. From the front cowl back, every panel is different, add reinforcing the chassis, plus the mechanical for the top, then spread the cost over a low volume car. It's surprising the car is so cheap compared to a similarly equipped Sedan.

I wouldn't call it low volume. They'll sell a decent amount to amortise costs across. The roof mechanism is likely common for motors and switchgear. Obviously different linkages and the like compared to existing c class cabrio. The tooling costs for the panel's likely to be high but again, its not a lotus or saleen we're talking about, those costs are diluted across a fair chunk of cars. A circa 20 percent mark up is too high imo. Bmw don't add the same sort of big premium for their cabrios.

Each model at MB stands alone when it comes to margins and pricing. There are no loss leaders.