xolinlevh

yea they should upsell the Designo colors more, would deff increase sales.

AsianML

trumpet, I think Dick Dyer might be wrong on the interior color names. Sahara Beige sounds right, based on other Sahara Beige interiors for the C-Class, E-Class and from this S65 with what looks like the same interior.
https://mbworld.org/forums/showpost....2&postcount=31

trumpet1

Yes. I know it is Sahara.
I also noticed in those pictures in that link you posted, that the car has more woodgrain than we get here in the states. The wood covers the front ashtray and cupholder area (like in our CL cars) , and it also extends up towards the speedometer, and then goes across along the top area over to the nav area. I've never seen that before.

AsianML

I think it's that stick on "wood" that you can buy.

trumpet1

You really think so? I sure hope its not. Can't imagine someone ordering a car this nice to turn around and ruin it with that crap.

AsianML

Don't worry. It's just those two pieces that are the stick on wood type. Other than that his S65 is very clean in and out.

Z356

I believe we have talked about this subject on our forum before. My understanding is that MBUSA has thoroughly analysed our market and has decided that it would be too risky to allow US customers to order Designo at will - although they allow Europeans, Canadians and most other of their world customers to do so. I think they believe that 'unusual' color combinations could impact negatively the resale value of their cars in this market, especially those that come off lease. Depreciation and used car values are a big concern to them, and understandably so. In addition, our consumer laws allow most people ordering cars in the US to reject the car upon arrival at the dealership and received their deposits back in full. Dealers do not want to risk ordering these special color combination (which add quite an expense to the MSRP) as they could be 'stuck' with them in case the customer changes his mind. Thus, MBUSA has arrived at a compromise. They will put together just a few 'pre-set' Designo combinations they feel are 'good bets' and allows the US dealer network and customers to order them. Knowledgeable dealers will tell you of the interesting experience many of them had with the 2007 Espresso Edition S550/S600 just two years ago. This particular color combination - Mocha Black Metallic with Black/Armagnac interior - appeared fairly 'muted' and 'brown' in the color photos that graced the 2007 S550/S600 US sales brochure. It was one of three special Designo editions then available in USA for the S550/S600. However, when the actual Designo production cars finally arrived at US dealerships, many Espresso special order customers were surprised at how 'pumpkin' (or 'basketball orange' as some called it) the Armagnac turned out to be. Personally, I still think this is the most striking and beautiful color interior I have ever seen in a Designo edition. But the net results were that many Espresso customers walked away and perhaps some dealers ended up selling these cars at discount just to move them. Just one year later, the 2008 Espresso S550/S600 Edition changed to Sand leather color and allowed that interior (almost dull in comparison to Armagnac) to be ordered with other exterior colors in the MB range. The latter was an excellent decision, but I truly miss the distinctive Armagnac interior which is no longer available! Just a little background on the Designo 'wars' in our market. Saludos, Z356

Untertürkheim

I understand your point, but this problem is due to MBUSA not making a proper designo brochure or any designo sales materials.

In Europe, at a designo gallery, there are 1mx1m sheets of leather for every interior upsolstery color. Also, the trim and paint options are on approx 20cmx10cm plaques to allow the customer to see exactly what colors he is ordering.

If they would invest $100 per dealership to send these materials, the "risks" you were mentioning would be mostly mitigated, and the US can stop being a second-class market.

Untertürkheim

I would like to invite my designo people to join www.generationbenz.com, a forum run by MBUSA to get direct customer feedback.

I have the same username, except the ü has been replaced by ??

xolinlevh

+1 fun site!

AustinGuy

Interesting