Daimler Chrysler-WHY??
11-26-2012, 11:19 AM
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2014 E350, 2006 C350 Sport(made it to 280k, loved it!), 1990 300E
Daimler Chrysler-WHY??
Why did they come together? IMHO, MB cheapened their brand by this collaboration. Thoughts?
11-26-2012, 03:07 PM
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2014 E350, 2006 C350 Sport(made it to 280k, loved it!), 1990 300E
Yes, I know. My question is why in the first place? Strange bedfellows don't you think?
11-26-2012, 03:38 PM
#4
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Chrysler gained all of Mercedes engineering in the merger. Mercedes learned how Chrysler reduced costs by screwing their techs.
I'd say Chrysler came out on top.
The new Jeep (I mean ML), is actually a nice vehicle especially with the SRT-8 engine.
I'd say Chrysler came out on top.
The new Jeep (I mean ML), is actually a nice vehicle especially with the SRT-8 engine.
11-26-2012, 03:56 PM
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MB’s
00-02 220/215
Some 210's 96-02 however all of mine have been good(knock on wood)
98-04 SLK's
01-03 W203's
03-06 w211
Pretty much any ML before 08'ish
I honestly do not know why Mercedes purchased them but it was one of the very few mistakes the company has ever made. Unfortunatly they will be paying for it for a couple year as many have switched over the BMW, Audi, Lexus and Jaguar due to quality issues. Mercedes quality have been on a wonderful rise since they sold off. I love there new line and I am looking for a W212 E Class sometime soon.
Chrysler totally screwed over Mercedes because of the merger and like awiner said they took all of their technology and their cars show it! 300/Charger/Magnum all use 220/215/210 parts(Trans, Suspension), The keys even look similar, The jeep has many similarities such as interior layout except far cheaper in quality, the Pacifica is a cheap R Wagon, the Crossfire is a cheaper SLK. Mercedes cheapened themselves during that time but now are on their way up top once again.
It took long enough for them to realize their mistake.
11-27-2012, 07:33 AM
#6
Senior Member
The accepted theory at the time was that because of "economy of scale", the World Automotive Industry would be consolidated into three or four "Super" manufacturers. Ford had bought Volvo and Jaguar among others, GM had an option on Fiat and was sniffing around BMW, and there was even some discussion of a Toyota/GM merger.
The merger of Mercedes and Chrysler was widely touted as a merger of equals. Mercedes brought prestige and engineering expertise to the table and Chrysler brought an entrée to the American mass market and manufacturing facilities. As well, Chrysler brought the light truck and Minivan market which Mercedes had no really competitive product in.
Within weeks it became clear that the merger of equals was in fact an acquisition by Mercedes. They assumed management control and took over North American marketing in an area they had no experience in. They refused to give Chrysler current product advancement and instead gave them one or two generation old engineering. They also found the lack of Chrysler manufacturing quality and company wide planning problems to be far more problematic than they ever thought.
Ultimately it proved to be a failed project and they gave Cerberus Chrysler control for little more than an assumption of debt. A move that eventually proved very expensive for the United States as a whole.
The merger of Mercedes and Chrysler was widely touted as a merger of equals. Mercedes brought prestige and engineering expertise to the table and Chrysler brought an entrée to the American mass market and manufacturing facilities. As well, Chrysler brought the light truck and Minivan market which Mercedes had no really competitive product in.
Within weeks it became clear that the merger of equals was in fact an acquisition by Mercedes. They assumed management control and took over North American marketing in an area they had no experience in. They refused to give Chrysler current product advancement and instead gave them one or two generation old engineering. They also found the lack of Chrysler manufacturing quality and company wide planning problems to be far more problematic than they ever thought.
Ultimately it proved to be a failed project and they gave Cerberus Chrysler control for little more than an assumption of debt. A move that eventually proved very expensive for the United States as a whole.
11-28-2012, 12:35 PM
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2014 E350, 2006 C350 Sport(made it to 280k, loved it!), 1990 300E
The accepted theory at the time was that because of "economy of scale", the World Automotive Industry would be consolidated into three or four "Super" manufacturers. Ford had bought Volvo and Jaguar among others, GM had an option on Fiat and was sniffing around BMW, and there was even some discussion of a Toyota/GM merger.
The merger of Mercedes and Chrysler was widely touted as a merger of equals. Mercedes brought prestige and engineering expertise to the table and Chrysler brought an entrée to the American mass market and manufacturing facilities. As well, Chrysler brought the light truck and Minivan market which Mercedes had no really competitive product in.
Within weeks it became clear that the merger of equals was in fact an acquisition by Mercedes. They assumed management control and took over North American marketing in an area they had no experience in. They refused to give Chrysler current product advancement and instead gave them one or two generation old engineering. They also found the lack of Chrysler manufacturing quality and company wide planning problems to be far more problematic than they ever thought.
Ultimately it proved to be a failed project and they gave Cerberus Chrysler control for little more than an assumption of debt. A move that eventually proved very expensive for the United States as a whole.
The merger of Mercedes and Chrysler was widely touted as a merger of equals. Mercedes brought prestige and engineering expertise to the table and Chrysler brought an entrée to the American mass market and manufacturing facilities. As well, Chrysler brought the light truck and Minivan market which Mercedes had no really competitive product in.
Within weeks it became clear that the merger of equals was in fact an acquisition by Mercedes. They assumed management control and took over North American marketing in an area they had no experience in. They refused to give Chrysler current product advancement and instead gave them one or two generation old engineering. They also found the lack of Chrysler manufacturing quality and company wide planning problems to be far more problematic than they ever thought.
Ultimately it proved to be a failed project and they gave Cerberus Chrysler control for little more than an assumption of debt. A move that eventually proved very expensive for the United States as a whole.
Well, Chrysler raiding MB's engineering doesn't surprise me at all. I never been a fan of Chrysler products but I noticed their body stylings became much more interesting. The 300 in particular
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11-28-2012, 01:22 PM
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things with and without wheels
The theory makes sense but this particular merger btw MB and Chrysler boggled my mind. Even at that time. Well, Chrysler raiding MB's engineering doesn't surprise me at all. I never been a fan of Chrysler products but I noticed their body stylings became much more interesting. The 300 in particular
Well, Chrysler raiding MB's engineering doesn't surprise me at all. I never been a fan of Chrysler products but I noticed their body stylings became much more interesting. The 300 in particular;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Gilles
12-05-2012, 11:43 AM
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2011 E-350
As a lurker here, hoping to be a E63 AMG owner in the near future, all I can say is I'm happy it went through. I bought a 2005 300C and to date I have 138K miles on it. Not including the mods or regular maintenance costs, the only unscheduled cost I have incurred is $92.00. ($90 for the dealer to tell me I dont have a fuse problem and the tech guessed I would need a new computer at a cost of $1800.00 to which I said no thanks. And the other 2$ cost was for a fuse I needed to replace once I searched the 300C forums for the issue.
I have 340+ HP on a 5.7 Litre engine and I average 22.4 MPG but can play whenever I want.
I have owned 20+ cars and this is by far the best one.
I have 4 kids, 2 out of college, and 2 in HS. So once the last two are out of HS It's my time to splurge, other than my motorcycle :-)
-=Bill=-
I have 340+ HP on a 5.7 Litre engine and I average 22.4 MPG but can play whenever I want.
I have owned 20+ cars and this is by far the best one.
I have 4 kids, 2 out of college, and 2 in HS. So once the last two are out of HS It's my time to splurge, other than my motorcycle :-)
-=Bill=-
12-08-2012, 02:40 PM
#11
Gas and image
With gas prices rising the only way to push for new customers was to go the european route as they had found ways to get power whilst offering economy. From chryslers point of view saying mercedes in the same breath was seen as a quality mark, something chrysler had been missing for some while
as to why mercedes got involved I can only assume cash and to raise their profile more in the u.s. and when they had the good bits they left it, similar to bmw buying land rover and ford buying aston martin
With gas prices rising the only way to push for new customers was to go the european route as they had found ways to get power whilst offering economy. From chryslers point of view saying mercedes in the same breath was seen as a quality mark, something chrysler had been missing for some while
as to why mercedes got involved I can only assume cash and to raise their profile more in the u.s. and when they had the good bits they left it, similar to bmw buying land rover and ford buying aston martin
12-08-2012, 02:49 PM
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05 crossfire w/SL55 drivetrain installed by Rudy Compart Intake/Needswings best et-10.76 @ 129
It was done on both sides FOR MONEY., I personally gained from it, as i got a nice Crossfire/SLK32, then installed a E55 motor and tranny in it,, now i have a nice sports car.,,, the glass,skin, and emblem are Chrysler ,,the rest of the car is Mercedes. jim
12-13-2012, 02:08 AM
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MB; 55KCL AMG, SL550 SLS AMG G500 Cabrio 280SL ML350 CLS550 ML500 E55 AMG CL500 S600 SLK32 AMG
I agree 100%. Thank God they sold off Chrysler off. The cars that were effected by this mostly were the early 215/220, early 211's, early w203's, early SLK's, Some 210's and the ML's.
00-02 220/215
Some 210's 96-02 however all of mine have been good(knock on wood)
98-04 SLK's
01-03 W203's
03-06 w211
Pretty much any ML before 08'ish
I honestly do not know why Mercedes purchased them but it was one of the very few mistakes the company has ever made. Unfortunatly they will be paying for it for a couple year as many have switched over the BMW, Audi, Lexus and Jaguar due to quality issues. Mercedes quality have been on a wonderful rise since they sold off. I love there new line and I am looking for a W212 E Class sometime soon.
Chrysler totally screwed over Mercedes because of the merger and like awiner said they took all of their technology and their cars show it! 300/Charger/Magnum all use 220/215/210 parts(Trans, Suspension), The keys even look similar, The jeep has many similarities such as interior layout except far cheaper in quality, the Pacifica is a cheap R Wagon, the Crossfire is a cheaper SLK. Mercedes cheapened themselves during that time but now are on their way up top once again. It took long enough for them to realize their mistake.
00-02 220/215
Some 210's 96-02 however all of mine have been good(knock on wood)
98-04 SLK's
01-03 W203's
03-06 w211
Pretty much any ML before 08'ish
I honestly do not know why Mercedes purchased them but it was one of the very few mistakes the company has ever made. Unfortunatly they will be paying for it for a couple year as many have switched over the BMW, Audi, Lexus and Jaguar due to quality issues. Mercedes quality have been on a wonderful rise since they sold off. I love there new line and I am looking for a W212 E Class sometime soon.
Chrysler totally screwed over Mercedes because of the merger and like awiner said they took all of their technology and their cars show it! 300/Charger/Magnum all use 220/215/210 parts(Trans, Suspension), The keys even look similar, The jeep has many similarities such as interior layout except far cheaper in quality, the Pacifica is a cheap R Wagon, the Crossfire is a cheaper SLK. Mercedes cheapened themselves during that time but now are on their way up top once again.
It took long enough for them to realize their mistake.Thanks.
12-13-2012, 03:17 AM
#14
MBWorld Fanatic!
The man behind 300
;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Gilles
;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Gilles
http://media.chrysler.com/newsreleas...id=2123&mid=15
12-13-2012, 09:05 AM
#15
Mercedes purchase of Chrysler was planned from day one.
Chrysler at the time had a very strong finance dept, they were able to underwrite their leases and finance the cars they sold. At the time lot of car makers weren't able to offer the attractive finance terms and lease offers they have today. Mercedes saw the benefit of this.
At the same time Mercedes didn't have as many dealers as they did now
Up until 1997 Mercedes consistently sold 75,000 +/- cars a year in the USA. After they merged with Chrysler that number increased to where we are today at 240,000 + cars on the market. This probably explains why there is probably double the mercedes dealers in most metropolitan markets. Also explains why our cars depreciate heavily than they once did.
Of course Mercedes quality went way down, so did the service and the facilities. Mercedes cheapened out on a lot of components, buying out aggressively second and third source parts manufacturers whose quality was revealed later to be sub-par. Mercedes had invested so much in Chrysler that they could not afford to build quality cars they once used to.
But more and more people are buying Mercedes. Which means more profit. I would say it looks pretty good to triple your sales figures in 15 years. And Mercedes pricing has not gone down. Because of Chrysler's strong finance dept, more and more people got into Mercedes Benz. That is how i wound up in my C43 with a nasty balloon payment at the end (never again) Cars are bought used and cash in hand.
My uncle was a VP for Chrysler Financial who told me this at the beginning, middle, and end. he revelaed to me that both parties got what they wanted but Mercedes clearly got the better end of the deal. My uncle is retired now (forced when Chrysler Financial ceased operations) with nothing to do but go back and forth to Brazil scratching his ***. he made out pretty good. Retired at 58
Chrysler at the time had a very strong finance dept, they were able to underwrite their leases and finance the cars they sold. At the time lot of car makers weren't able to offer the attractive finance terms and lease offers they have today. Mercedes saw the benefit of this.
At the same time Mercedes didn't have as many dealers as they did now
Up until 1997 Mercedes consistently sold 75,000 +/- cars a year in the USA. After they merged with Chrysler that number increased to where we are today at 240,000 + cars on the market. This probably explains why there is probably double the mercedes dealers in most metropolitan markets. Also explains why our cars depreciate heavily than they once did.
Of course Mercedes quality went way down, so did the service and the facilities. Mercedes cheapened out on a lot of components, buying out aggressively second and third source parts manufacturers whose quality was revealed later to be sub-par. Mercedes had invested so much in Chrysler that they could not afford to build quality cars they once used to.
But more and more people are buying Mercedes. Which means more profit. I would say it looks pretty good to triple your sales figures in 15 years. And Mercedes pricing has not gone down. Because of Chrysler's strong finance dept, more and more people got into Mercedes Benz. That is how i wound up in my C43 with a nasty balloon payment at the end (never again) Cars are bought used and cash in hand.
My uncle was a VP for Chrysler Financial who told me this at the beginning, middle, and end. he revelaed to me that both parties got what they wanted but Mercedes clearly got the better end of the deal. My uncle is retired now (forced when Chrysler Financial ceased operations) with nothing to do but go back and forth to Brazil scratching his ***. he made out pretty good. Retired at 58
12-13-2012, 11:06 AM
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2014 E350, 2006 C350 Sport(made it to 280k, loved it!), 1990 300E
Mercedes purchase of Chrysler was planned from day one.
Chrysler at the time had a very strong finance dept, they were able to underwrite their leases and finance the cars they sold. At the time lot of car makers weren't able to offer the attractive finance terms and lease offers they have today. Mercedes saw the benefit of this.
At the same time Mercedes didn't have as many dealers as they did now
Up until 1997 Mercedes consistently sold 75,000 +/- cars a year in the USA. After they merged with Chrysler that number increased to where we are today at 240,000 + cars on the market. This probably explains why there is probably double the mercedes dealers in most metropolitan markets. Also explains why our cars depreciate heavily than they once did.
Of course Mercedes quality went way down, so did the service and the facilities. Mercedes cheapened out on a lot of components, buying out aggressively second and third source parts manufacturers whose quality was revealed later to be sub-par. Mercedes had invested so much in Chrysler that they could not afford to build quality cars they once used to.
But more and more people are buying Mercedes. Which means more profit. I would say it looks pretty good to triple your sales figures in 15 years. And Mercedes pricing has not gone down. Because of Chrysler's strong finance dept, more and more people got into Mercedes Benz. That is how i wound up in my C43 with a nasty balloon payment at the end (never again) Cars are bought used and cash in hand.
My uncle was a VP for Chrysler Financial who told me this at the beginning, middle, and end. he revelaed to me that both parties got what they wanted but Mercedes clearly got the better end of the deal. My uncle is retired now (forced when Chrysler Financial ceased operations) with nothing to do but go back and forth to Brazil scratching his ***. he made out pretty good. Retired at 58
Chrysler at the time had a very strong finance dept, they were able to underwrite their leases and finance the cars they sold. At the time lot of car makers weren't able to offer the attractive finance terms and lease offers they have today. Mercedes saw the benefit of this.
At the same time Mercedes didn't have as many dealers as they did now
Up until 1997 Mercedes consistently sold 75,000 +/- cars a year in the USA. After they merged with Chrysler that number increased to where we are today at 240,000 + cars on the market. This probably explains why there is probably double the mercedes dealers in most metropolitan markets. Also explains why our cars depreciate heavily than they once did.
Of course Mercedes quality went way down, so did the service and the facilities. Mercedes cheapened out on a lot of components, buying out aggressively second and third source parts manufacturers whose quality was revealed later to be sub-par. Mercedes had invested so much in Chrysler that they could not afford to build quality cars they once used to.
But more and more people are buying Mercedes. Which means more profit. I would say it looks pretty good to triple your sales figures in 15 years. And Mercedes pricing has not gone down. Because of Chrysler's strong finance dept, more and more people got into Mercedes Benz. That is how i wound up in my C43 with a nasty balloon payment at the end (never again) Cars are bought used and cash in hand.
My uncle was a VP for Chrysler Financial who told me this at the beginning, middle, and end. he revelaed to me that both parties got what they wanted but Mercedes clearly got the better end of the deal. My uncle is retired now (forced when Chrysler Financial ceased operations) with nothing to do but go back and forth to Brazil scratching his ***. he made out pretty good. Retired at 58
Seems like this marriage was an exchange of info btw 2 companies. I am putting it simplistically. Engineering(Chryslers gain) Finance, market penetration(Mercedes gain) That's why I am not a in any boardroom. Yet!!
12-13-2012, 01:55 PM
#18
MBWorld Fanatic!
Mercedes purchase of Chrysler was planned from day one.
Chrysler at the time had a very strong finance dept, they were able to underwrite their leases and finance the cars they sold. At the time lot of car makers weren't able to offer the attractive finance terms and lease offers they have today. Mercedes saw the benefit of this.
At the same time Mercedes didn't have as many dealers as they did now
Up until 1997 Mercedes consistently sold 75,000 +/- cars a year in the USA. After they merged with Chrysler that number increased to where we are today at 240,000 + cars on the market. This probably explains why there is probably double the mercedes dealers in most metropolitan markets. Also explains why our cars depreciate heavily than they once did.
Of course Mercedes quality went way down, so did the service and the facilities. Mercedes cheapened out on a lot of components, buying out aggressively second and third source parts manufacturers whose quality was revealed later to be sub-par. Mercedes had invested so much in Chrysler that they could not afford to build quality cars they once used to.
But more and more people are buying Mercedes. Which means more profit. I would say it looks pretty good to triple your sales figures in 15 years. And Mercedes pricing has not gone down. Because of Chrysler's strong finance dept, more and more people got into Mercedes Benz. That is how i wound up in my C43 with a nasty balloon payment at the end (never again) Cars are bought used and cash in hand.
My uncle was a VP for Chrysler Financial who told me this at the beginning, middle, and end. he revelaed to me that both parties got what they wanted but Mercedes clearly got the better end of the deal. My uncle is retired now (forced when Chrysler Financial ceased operations) with nothing to do but go back and forth to Brazil scratching his ***. he made out pretty good. Retired at 58
Chrysler at the time had a very strong finance dept, they were able to underwrite their leases and finance the cars they sold. At the time lot of car makers weren't able to offer the attractive finance terms and lease offers they have today. Mercedes saw the benefit of this.
At the same time Mercedes didn't have as many dealers as they did now
Up until 1997 Mercedes consistently sold 75,000 +/- cars a year in the USA. After they merged with Chrysler that number increased to where we are today at 240,000 + cars on the market. This probably explains why there is probably double the mercedes dealers in most metropolitan markets. Also explains why our cars depreciate heavily than they once did.
Of course Mercedes quality went way down, so did the service and the facilities. Mercedes cheapened out on a lot of components, buying out aggressively second and third source parts manufacturers whose quality was revealed later to be sub-par. Mercedes had invested so much in Chrysler that they could not afford to build quality cars they once used to.
But more and more people are buying Mercedes. Which means more profit. I would say it looks pretty good to triple your sales figures in 15 years. And Mercedes pricing has not gone down. Because of Chrysler's strong finance dept, more and more people got into Mercedes Benz. That is how i wound up in my C43 with a nasty balloon payment at the end (never again) Cars are bought used and cash in hand.
My uncle was a VP for Chrysler Financial who told me this at the beginning, middle, and end. he revelaed to me that both parties got what they wanted but Mercedes clearly got the better end of the deal. My uncle is retired now (forced when Chrysler Financial ceased operations) with nothing to do but go back and forth to Brazil scratching his ***. he made out pretty good. Retired at 58
I did notice that on the timeline, Automobile magazine had a huge article out on the merger a few years ago, made a lot of points and information brought to light on the merger. MB had a lot of problem cars in that era too, 99-04 was a dark time.
01-04-2013, 02:42 PM
#19
Guys i put together the sales figures for the year 2012 for all manufacturers
Its of no surprise Mercedes is #2 in luxury car sales (note the figure includes sprinter vans)
When you go from putting 75,000 cars a year on us soil to 295K in a span of 20 years, it makes sense why our cars depreciate like a rock. BMW has always had a steady growth to where it doubled in the same time frame.
Imagine taking a Paul Newman Rolex Daytona and tripling its production, wouldn't its value fall drastically? People associate the Star with luxury back then and still to this day. More and more people are getting into a mercedes benz.
Do you remember when you would see MBs only in the real, real nice neighborhoods? I mean back then no middle class family would gather the notion of owning one. Mercedes has a brilliantly marketing strategy. Would would have thought the office intern would be driving a mercedes?
My family did okay but i can tell you I grew up in the third seat of a olds cutlass crusier station wagon looking out the back for most of my childhood. My mom would pick me up from soccer in her American Eagle Hatchback. We had a comfortable nice house, but it would never occurred to us to go get a MB in the 80s. Look at today? Everyone is driving one of these now.
Its of no surprise Mercedes is #2 in luxury car sales (note the figure includes sprinter vans)
When you go from putting 75,000 cars a year on us soil to 295K in a span of 20 years, it makes sense why our cars depreciate like a rock. BMW has always had a steady growth to where it doubled in the same time frame.
Imagine taking a Paul Newman Rolex Daytona and tripling its production, wouldn't its value fall drastically? People associate the Star with luxury back then and still to this day. More and more people are getting into a mercedes benz.
Do you remember when you would see MBs only in the real, real nice neighborhoods? I mean back then no middle class family would gather the notion of owning one. Mercedes has a brilliantly marketing strategy. Would would have thought the office intern would be driving a mercedes?
My family did okay but i can tell you I grew up in the third seat of a olds cutlass crusier station wagon looking out the back for most of my childhood. My mom would pick me up from soccer in her American Eagle Hatchback. We had a comfortable nice house, but it would never occurred to us to go get a MB in the 80s. Look at today? Everyone is driving one of these now.
