Nevada Jack

I don't anticipate a delay but this happened with my S order and I ended up buying from stock (was lucky to find one well equipped.) But that will not happen with the GL because there are just not any loaded GL320's laying around. I am serious...if MB pulls this S*** on my GL I am out of here!

MBslk350 Contact Greg Weiler at Westminster MB (formally Glauser) in Denver and see if he has any allocations earlier than June. Allocations are tight I am sure but he just may have an opening. They will ship it to your front door! His number is 303-410-7800. Tell him Nevada Jack referred you...he will do all he can to help you out.

Abscam

They send the cars to the hot lots. So I was told by my sales person - that is why you see blow out sales on cars when the new model car is around the corner - who ever has the most sales gets the most allocation.

Could it be the dealer had a minor allocation due to past sales? A lot of times the dealer will have cars in queue in a popular configuration that they can change to meet a customer's specific requirements up until a certain point. If you can get into one of thsoe vehicles you cut down on your wait time, cuz the car is already in the queue (on line for you East Coasters).

mbslk350

Nevada Jack, thanks for the suggestion. I'll give him a call on Monday.

boxboss

To get a feel for whatever may be happening (if anything) to GL deliveries, I tried to find production data for the Vance plant. I couldn't find anything concrete, but two bits of data gave me an idea. In 1998, their goal was 270 vehicles per day. Several reports in '03 and '04 referred to a $600MM investment and doubling employment and production - as it turns out, due to the GL. Based on this information, I would estimate production to be at least 500 vehicles/day. Of course, this includes the M, R, and GL series in all their variations.

I don't know the mix, but for the sake of the argument, let's assume 40%M-20%R-40%GL. That means 200 GL's per day. What percent are diesel - who knows, but lets assume only 10% are 320's, the US version. That's 20 per day. Given a 20 production day month, that's 400 320's per month or 8 times the 50 number quoted on this board.

The vast majority of buyers are not posters here, but I would think that a conservative estimate of 400 320's a month would pretty much eliminate a buyer having to wait 4 to 6 months for delivery.

My conclusion: if your GL320 delivery keeps getting pushed back, it's dealer He's either trading his allocation or selling it to a buyer who's invoice+.

Abscam

BB;

You think they are flipp'n them to a new buyer willing to pay more? Where's the integrity? Outrageous! Those damn capitalists...ahem, that very thought passed my mind when my April deliver date turned to May...but now it's supposedly back to April.

If the vehicle has your name and the sales rep's name next to it in NetStar isn't it yours?

AutoSaurus

This is production for one week ending yesterday 3/2:

GL class (trk.) 1,037 37%
M class (trk.) 1,466 53%
R class (trk.) 284 10%
Total: 2,787 100%

boxboss you were very close too.

Nevada Jack

I would like to bet 90% of that GL production was to EU...? If the US dealers were getting that kind of numbers we would not still be looking at 60 days for our build dates...

boxboss

One would think. We know stealers, though. If you're paying $1k over invoice and another buyer says he'll pay sticker if he can get it in 45 days...you think the dealer would "correct" the name for $4-5k? They will try to get $350 for useless undercoating, so what do you think?
I'm suprised just how close. If you have access to those numbers, can you get the really important numbers...what percent of the GL's are the different versions? I'm not sure, but I think there are 4: 320, 420, 450 and 550 (420 and 550 being EU.)

+1 If AS can get GL production breakdown, we may be able to make some educated guesses. Otherwise, I'm sticking with :dealer bs:

Nevada Jack

You are also dealing with two different models for the US...the 450 and the 320. I would imagine a good amount of 450 production is for the US market but for the EU market it would be diesel builds. And rumor has it that the EU is getting priority on the diesel engine demands making the wait here exceptionally long for that model. Unless an accurate breakdown is available, there is no way to interpolate "why" the wait is so long.

My date of late April was given to me in December and the dealer was hoping they would receive more Feb/Mar allocations but they never developed. The specific date was finally gotten about 3 weeks ago.

mbslk350

In fact, I did negotiate $4000 off the MSRP, which is a few hundred over invoice. It would be very tempting for the dealer to slot an MSRP order before mine if someone wanted an earlier delivery and was willing to pay full price. I'd like to think my dealer has more integrity, but who knows.

AutoSaurus

Unfortunately, no. That is all I can get.

I have an account with Automotive News and that is where I get it.

CycloneRcr

I can tell you that no one here gets the gasoline engines in GL. Whatever GL sold in Europe is a diesel, maybe 99%. Therefore it's no surprise that there is a shortage of GL320CDI for US market where people still have intention to buy the 450 version.

Nevada Jack

You are not surprised very easily...:-)

The demand here is high for the 320CDI which was just introduced here in January. The problem is MB knew they were to start sales in the US in January for some time yet there are apparently insufficient supply of engines and those that are available are going to Europe first. It is MB who should not be surprised and who is failing to meet the demand of the US consumer. If you don't have the engines in the factory to meet initial demand, then don't release it for sale. Another very poor business decision by MB leading to poor customer satisfaction. Waiting for a new vehicle in excess of 4 to 6 months in this day and age is nuts...they did better when they built them by hand!

CycloneRcr

Yes, they are missing the chance to make good sale numbers for a very premium model. A shame.

cyeung65

I was pursuing a GL320 really hard for a couple of weeks. All I can say now is MB USA lost a 60k sale.

carpersn

the models are out there, if you don't HAVE to order. there are several new ones on Ebay...course, if you're like me and HAVE to order, then yeah, 3-6 mos. However, unless you're tied down to your dealer, there are a fair number of dealers out there on either the very small side or the very large side who may be able to accomodate you faster.

Norris

Demand far exceeds supply for the 320. This is truly the first SUV in the states with diesel and has decent mileage. Bad move by MB not having more engines in the supply line. Even if they could do 100 per month instead of only 50 would help the problem.

IMHO - Can you blame MB?? In the past diesels have not sold well in the states unlike in the EU where everything seems to be diesel. Diesels do not have a good track record in the everyday consumer market in the past.
Now that we are getting close to being out of 2007 GL320's based on orders and numbers of engines available my guess is within 30 days MB will not take anymore orders on 2007's but instead put a stop on until the 2008 Bluetechs hit the factory.

With having our GL320 for a few days I can say I believe that MB has a winner with the 320 and were simply gun shy to having more on the dealer lots.

Nevada Jack

I agree with you to a certain extent but...Yes, I blame MB. They are not neophytes in this game...they should know that with the good sales of the 320CDI that a big SUV getting 20-25mpg would be a hit with a good portion of the US market. They have two things to market and they missed...an award winning SUV and a diesel engine that provides 25mpg...what could be more advantageous than getting them on the street quickly and let word of mouth do the legwork. No...they load the market with bare bones GL450's and send a paltry number of diesels to dealers with no stock for those custom orders that they know would come. So now when there are real buyers out there with real money...they tell them it will be 4 months to get one!

This is not new but is a trend with MB...the S Class supply was a disaster with long delays, rescheduled build dates and lack of the most popular options which they promoted. A year after introduction there are still options which are not available. Yes...I do blame MB for poor management and lack of buyer concerns. The quality has improved and is back to the best but what good does that do if you can't deliver them in a reasonable amount of time.

boxboss

+1 In addition, I bet there was a lot of market research they proved the demand would be there. No company would develop a product (I heard a 5 year developmental program on the GL), tool up, and put it on the market without knowing if there would be potential buyers.

Norris

I just disagree.

In the US, diesel has never sold well in the everyday consumer market. Americans just didn't buy diesels. Now we have low noise, low emissions and Americans are now on board. I just think MB did not want to loose their last shirt on the 2007 GL 320 if people didn't buy into the new diesels.

Keep in mind also they are not available in the big States of NY or California either until the 2008 models come out.

When that happens bio-diesel will be a fuel source making even more news in the market place since many Americans will see that Ethanol is not a bang for the buck providing less mileage. It is then I believe the car makers will make the switch to diesel.

Nevada Jack

If any car maker knows diesel and the market it is Mercedes Benz. They know exactly what the diesel market is here and they have history as well as new sales data with the E320 CDI, the ML320 CDI, the R 320CDI and now the GL to provide them input. It is not being afraid of "losing their shirt", it is a case of not having enough diesel engines in the chain to support the EU demand (which is almost 100% diesel models) and failing to meet the new US demand at the same time. Poor planning on behalf of MB...

oknish

Could it be that Diesel demand in EU was more than what even MB could predict? And, so they are waiting to make the US push with Bluetec?

CA is one of the biggest markets and they are not offering 320 CDI here due to emission standards.

Either way, waiting 6 months for a car to be built, in this day and age, does indicate shortcomings with the manufacturer.

Nevada Jack

EU market is primarily a diesel market so I don't think it is any surprise to MB. They just are not in sync somewhere with their suppliers and the sensitivity of US buyers for their products. We are an impatient bunch and want things now...I hope they get their act together soon. If not they will be losing market share big time to Audi and BMW with all the new models they are coming out with. They also will be bringing diesels in 2008 so MB will have direct competition and miss the chance to grab a lot of SUV lovers.

AutoSaurus

I suddenly feel like I should crawl in a corner and hide b/c someone might come and steal my GL!

boxboss

Can you imagine if the 320CDI were approved for all 50 states? CA alone would easily take current estimated production - 6 months would be optimistic.

I still maintain failure to deliver ordered vehicles on time, or telling prospective orderers that the wait is a good 4 months, will kill demand. Americans do want it now, and most probably will not wait. Many buy cars in the spring for summer vacations...they would be lucky if ordering now to get one by the time the kids go back to school in August. I agree with NJ - massive miscalculation on MB's part.