Quadcammer

yeah, false.

Firstly, model cycles for almost every manufacturer have accelerated since the 80s. Secondly, the the 220 sold from 1999 to 2006...thats 8 years, and the 221 sold from 2006 to what looks to be 2013...which is, tada, 8 years.

The 220 was a successful car by just about every metric.

Whether you like it or not is your business, but to call it a failure is simply ignorant.

Quadcammer

the w220 sold 485,000
the 221 has sold 381,900 as of 2010.

Assuming 55,000 per year, that gets you to 491,900.

Add maybe 15,000 in partial 2013 sales, and you get to about 510,000.

Higher than the 220...yes...shockingly different? not really

skrontz

None of my data was from the 80s; otherwise, I would have quoted W126 with its impressive 13 year run.

Are you quoting manufacturing on model years? Fine, W220 was manufactured from the end of 1998; W221 was manufactured from 2005. That is 6 full years in my book for W220. W221 is already at 7 full years and will likely continue to be manufactured for the US market well into 2013-2014.

It was a successful car by just "about" every metric, except being notorious for poor quality. I understand that you drive and love the car, but it is hard to argue with the facts. Recall what was the "least reliable car of 2006:"

http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/17/auto...tune/index.htm

Anyway, the discussion is getting emotional, so I will wrap it up from my end. The real question is whether W222 will be successful or not; if the design is indeed as depicted, my money is going somewhere else next year.

skrontz

W221 was already at 455,000 at the end of last year. Considering the huge spike in demand this spring (10,000 cars moved per month), we should already be well over 500,000. Given that the W222 is not coming to USA until 2014, you should see at least another 50,000 W221s sold next year (especially if the W222 looks like this).

Quadcammer

we are getting complicated here. We can either stick with US or we can stick with europe/US, or europe only.

If you say US only, the 220 was sold from 2000 to 2006. If you count them up, thats 7 years.

The 221 was introduced in the US in 2007 and will be for sale until the 2014 model year (i.e late 2013). If you do the math, its the same time frame.

The 220 was not considered high in material quality in its early years and the introduction of revolutionary technology like airmatic, keyless go, distronic, etc meant that you had teething problems. As you'll see from actual user reviews, the 05/06 220s are much better, and the material quality of my designo car is topnotch.

I don't think conversation is emotional. I like my 220, I like the 221. You don't like the 220 or the 222, thats your choice.

But again, 220 sales were great, profits were good, there are hundreds of thousands of satisfied owners, and many critics stated that the 220 was a breath of fresh air from the huge feel and drive of the 140.

So again, I don't think its fair to call the 220 a failure.

As for sales you might be right. The 10,000 spike in sales is very odd, considering if you extrapolate it out it would result in the highest sales ever seen by the model, but who knows. The 221 sells well, no question.

T.H.Carrera

In my opinion, w220 sucks. Period.

Quadcammer

Fair enough...I can't see why, but thats your opinion and you're entitled to it.

skrontz

Sounds good, perhaps I was too quick to write this thread off as emotional.

I was referring to the worldwide W220 sales, but things fade pretty quickly if you only consider the US. Actually, W221 replaced W220 in the US market in 02/2006; I test drove one of the first few launch edition MY2007 S550s at the dealer in mid-February. While some W220s were marketed by MB as MY2006, I believe all of them were actually manufactured in CY2005. Again, it was extremely unusual for a next model year model to arrive this early, so it is commonly assumed that MB marketing decided to rush it to revive sales and compete with BMW. Unfortunately, we do not have any hard proof for whether W220 was profitable or not, but the amount of warranty claims must have been pretty sizable. You would probably agree that it is unfortunate to get the quality right just before the model is retired.

I don't believe I ever claimed that W220 was a failure, but I don't think it was a huge success either (at least based on the facts I see). This was to refute the claim that every S Class was a huge success.

sakodik

W222 spy photos reminds me of Bentleys. Both interior and exterior, especially with those tail lights.

I've noticed to pull buyers in again with models that are aging (3-5 years), they tend to do refreshes and facelifts to get buyers interested again. As someone said R&D for new models cost a lot, whereas a face lift, in 03 for 220 and 2010 for 221, its easier to replace headlights and say "look at me i'm new buy me!!". I know I was convinced when they changed the hazed headlights to clear in the 220, as with the LED integration in the 221.

superset

you do realize a artist interpretation isn't the real thing right? why do some overreact to such dumb things. that blue piece of crap that's was drawn by a 9yr old ,on the first link, IS NOT THE ACTUAL NEW S-CLASS. OK?

skrontz

No, we waited for you to open our eyes!

The sketch does follow the lines pretty accurately, so it may be not far from the final product. Notice how everyone kept saying "if the W222 looks like this."

Jalopys

How many of us on the forum bought a W220 new? I would guess that none of us did. My wife and I just moved up from a Jaguar Super V8, which was a great car, to a 2004 S600 with extremely low miles (8,200). There is no way that I would give over $125K for one of these no matter how nice. If I had to make enough money to buy one of these new, I wouldn't have time to get on the forum. I would have to work most of the time to support my life style. I can't wait until things start going wrong in the future. They will be time consuming and expensive. If I couldn't repair this car myself, I wouldn't have it!

T.H.Carrera

I did not know people on this forum had a hard time reading regular font? ^^^ you could not have gone any bigger?

Jalopys

I am so sorry that I used the large font. It was not intentional. Obviously, I hurt someone's feelings for which I am truly sorry. It will never happen again. I sure hope I don't get stoned for this terrible error that I made. I have found some good useful information on this forum, however, you generally have to sift through many posts to find anything useful. Diagnostic scanners are very affordable now and everyone can have one if you are patient enough to get it working. This way, we can solve most of our problems.

Once again, please forgive my rude large fonts and have a wonderful day.

absent

What's your basis for that statement?

Jalopys

Just an assumption! If you do have a 2010 Ferrari, then you could be the exception and congratulations to you. I think that is great. You have made me feel most welcome by helping me realize how terrible my comments are. There are lots of bored folks out there. This will be my last post and you will all be glad I am gone. I probably could never add anything constructive to this great forum anyway.

T.H.Carrera

Close the door on way out!

RT2010

Ouch!

ulflei

I agree with you 100%,3 post and all are offensive,so it's good to give the computer back yo your parents

drrobertjfrank

Hmmm... I'm not too crazy abu the flat-panel look of the instrument cluster (due to it being all-digital, I am sure). I like the idea of programming your own individual instrument cluster (having "Classic", "Performance", "Night", etc. would be wonderful!) but the broad flat lines and glob of round vents (which I have never liked in any year or modal) seem to clash to me...

as the wise man said: "We'll see..."

rmwpg

Oh look!

Another interior by Mercedes just a bit lower in appearance, classiness and, presumably, quality, than a 1982 Trabant.

Now, if only they would agree to charge an amount for their cars commensurate with their horrid quality and lack of proper, thoughtful design, they'd really have a year over year sales increase—yes, even bigger than the ones they already have.

ULJets

Is this guy for real??? In my opinion the S-Class, ESPECIALLY the W221 is a bargain! When you think of all the research, design, and technology that go into these cars along with the high-end finishes and a network of supporting these cars it really is an incredible deal.

ZorroAMG

Ok first off these threads make me laugh. Speculation and hatred for the upcoming model ALWAYS subsides when the car is released and turns into OMGWTFSICKRIDEBRO. Every time. For every car model.

The ones that say "OMGRESALEVALUEONMYOLDONEWILLSKYROCKETZZZZ" are even funnier. Yes. Your regular, run of the mill (albeit great car and a big purchase) will CERTAINLY hold its value more than a far advanced model. LOL. Unless you have a collector car like a BS or 500E or SLR/SLS, your car's value will plummet. Especially if if it has a V12. Sorry.

This car will look and perform fantastically when released. Check back here in 2 years and prove me wrong.