Not to mention the poor fuel mileage of his rockets that blow up 5 minutes after lift off.

Just like there weren't cell phone towers everywhere when the first cell phones came out, but I still think the EV cars are not going to work out for 50% of folks but for those that it does work out for, knock yourself out.

I understand your point but with CE cars you're not going to let yourself go too far out of the estimated miles left in your tank to get into trouble. Right now, EV owners have to take that matter more seriously on a 30 minute to 30 minute basis.

Key words are "if the grid goes down" which refers to the ding often applied to EVs that they can't be charged if the grid is down and yet it applies equally to gas cars: No grid, no gas. On the other hand, to my knowledge, "I don't want to buy an ICE car because you can't get gas when the grid is down" was said by no one, ever.

If you want to talk about charging in general; yeah, for many, it's a multifaceted problem that isn't going away soon.

As someone who sells Mercedes, the only thing they are focused on right now is electric car sales. Mercedes doesn't "fear" any manufacturer, but they are concerned with expanding their electric car footprint. They know ICE cars will be in short supply, so they are raising prices. There is no longer a concern about what an ICE BMW or Lexus sells for. As they were back in the 70's and 80's Mercedes is concerned with the upper end of the market. Their lower level offerings are virtually extinct. Hell, CLA 250's are mid $40k right now.

Yes, BUT: Someone can bring me a few gallons of gas from wherever, but I don’t think they can bring me a big enough Duracell.

Here we go!

Maybe “fear” was the wrong term to use. If MB sees they are losing customers they must care more about losing them to one or two particular brands than to other brands, I would think. Why else would they sometimes come up with incentives that are aimed at drivers of one particular, competing brand rather than all brands?

"Care" is best answered by MB. Try emailing the question to them and report back with their answer.

Using carsalesbase data and given that the last full year of data is 2021, MB is losing to everyone. From 2020 to 2021 they lost share on an absolute basis. From 2016 to 2021 they lost share on a relative basis (they benefited less than others benefited; they did less good). Death by a thousand cuts is unfolding before MB's eyes. Time to rearrange the deck chairs.

The consistent theme is that MB is losing. It's a shame. VAG and BMW are ascending, and watch out for Genesis. MB is in decline.

2020-2021 US market share change in percentage points:
Mercedes -0.04
Acura +0.11
Lexus +0.14
Audi +0.02
Genesis +0.22
BMW +0.33
Land Rover +0.06
Porsche +0.08
Total non-Mercedes +0.96

2016-2021 US market share change in percentage points:
Mercedes +0.05
Acura +0.13
Lexus +0.13
Audi +0.11
Genesis +0.29
BMW +0.45
Land Rover +0.19
Porsche +0.16
Total non-Mercedes +1.46

delete duplicate

I found the comments here interesting. However, MB has told us who they fear in the latest designs. First the EQ series and now the 2024 E. They fear the young buyer eliminating them from the short list.

I'm not impressed with screens in the back seat or all the wide screens in the front but, I'm 75. Once the EVs push out ICE that will be a clean piece of paper for me for a whole new decision tree. I can't tell you why I measure my car buying with the same criteria as always because the base functionality doesn't change. Yet like the movie theaters, cars have also evolved.

My guess is that MB truly HATES losing sales to any brand, but the one that keeps them up at night is T E S L A. I live in Newport Beach and the number of Teslas seen on our streets every day is truly staggering, They are EVERYWHERE, like an invading army of fire ants.

As Loyalists most of us on this Forum would rather own a Mercedes-Benz over TESLA. But not the younger generation especially my Kids. Mercedes-Benz has called on its Formula 1 team to help it build more efficient EVs so that it can better keep up with Tesla going forward. If I was in charge after the dust settles in Ukraine, would make the EQG affordable and have a "base" model that stickers for $100K. Would even market a "base" EQG to the German and NATO military. Prefer the design of the Panther and Tiger Tanks of WWII. But the agricultural Sherman and T-34 Tanks won the War with its superior numbers on the battlefield.

LOL

As a member of the 'younger generation', I admit to, once, being tempted by Tesla. But widespread build quality issues kept me off. Misaligned panels. Leaking rooftops. Terrible wind noise in the cabin. Creaky interiors. All of these are well-reported issues, frequently encountered by real owners, some of whom I personally know. So in the end I still went back to MB, following the footsteps of my father.

That said, if MB is going to keep on adding more and more creaky plastics into the cabin (seriously, the W223 S class has way more cheap plastics in the cabin than the current W213 E class) and refuse fixing the numerous QC issues they have with these cars, I might just jump ship. Dunno about Tesla, but Genesis is looking really tempting.

It's pretty clear that you're not able to post anything but your personal grudge comments. You don't offer anything to the threads you post in.

I doubt it's Tesla given Tesla's poor technology and poor build quality.

Not once the planet killing fossil fuel runs out in the not too distant future.

You're failing to note 2 realities, the planet killing fossil fuel will run out in the not too distant future and the continued burning of the planet killing fossil fuel is seriously poisoning our planet.

A lot less than the continuing cost of seriously poisoning our planet that burning the planet killing fossil fuel is costing.

Poisoning planet, fossil fuels bad, fossil fuels running out, planet killer. Think we got it the first time there Skippy; take a chill pill. Please.

If you are referring to the SL Porsche incentive, it does make sense as Porsche is really the only company building sports cars in the SL's price range. Other makes are above or below. From a sales perspective Mercedes is gaining new customers with their upper level products. Which is offsetting the loss from the lower price products that have been cut. 2 years ago Mercedes made the decision to pivot away from volume for its own sake and turn towards higher profits per unit sold. They have learned that lower price points and lease deals don't really build loyalty. So while the volume of sales has gone down, the transaction prices have gone way up. Mercedes is still dealing with supply chain issues so there is a shortage of models, especially SUV's. So we could sell more if we had them. The demand is there.

LOL

I drove a Supercharged G90 when they first came out. I could not believe the outstanding ride quality, especially with 21” wheels. About two weeks ago on a Sunday, I visited one of the Genesis dealers here in Orange County. I just sort of strolled into the back area where the service department was and I was absolutely shocked. The place was dirty, beat up, run down and definitely in need of maintenance. It looked like something I might expect to see in a third world country. I imagined my nice, new G90 being “serviced” there and it was not a good image.

Genesis really needs to kick their dealers in the *** and insist that they build brand new, stand alone facilities. Taking a $100K Genesis to a Hyundai dealership for service is not cool. Of course, they will pick your car up for servicing, but it’s just not the same. MB & Lexus dealer service departments here are just exquisite. Genesis needs to go that way.

Please define “not too distant future.”