The Luxorace: Mercedes Throws In Towel
We have said the race for who will be the #1 luxury brand in the U.S.A. is too close to call and that it will come down to the wire. Now, those weenies of Mercedes throw in the towel and concede defeat. “I’m pretty sure we’ll be No. 3,” Ernst Lieb, president of Mercedes-Benz’s U.S., told Bloomberg. Whatever happened to “we will never surrender?” (Sorry, that was a Brit.) But look at those numbers, and join us in shouting “boohoo” at Lieb. And Mercedes. No fight left in them no more?
At the end of November, Toyota’s Lexus had sold 4,936 units more than BMW. But BMW was only 545 Bavarian cars ahead of Stuttgart’s Mercedes. Sure, the top spot for Lexus is as good as guaranteed. But Mercedes can’t pull itself together and close a gap of a few hundred cars? What’s up with them?
Instead of fighting to the last bullet, Lieb took to painting. A pretty picture.
“If you go back four years ago, Lexus was 75,000 units ahead of us and BMW was over 40,000 units ahead of us,” Lieb said. “At the end of the year with Lexus being, I don’t know, 6,000 units ahead of us, and BMW, 1,500, I think that’s a pretty good achievement.”
Jeez, he thinks BMW will even extend the lead? Defeatist yellow belly!
Luxury cars, pretty much unsalable last year, are making a strong comeback. “We are seeing more than usual increases in luxury sales,” says Jesse Toprak of TrueCar.com
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Put a thousand cars on the lots for 10k a piece. BMW problem solved.
MB is making the right move here. You don't chase volume like this. If you do, you end up like GM. Grow the business the right way and you will be fine. Being #1 (by volume) isn't important. Being profitable is.
I don't know why this is a title that any real luxury car brand would want to win. Aside from the LS and the too-niche-to-be-relelvant LFA, Lexus can barely be considered a luxury car company. As soon as a luxury brand becomes accessible to everyone, it loses it's appeal. What luxury brands should do is to make the best cars they possibly can, and sell them at as much profit as they can. As soon as you have to rebadge a Toyota Avensis or Camry, you've lost your way completely. Just look at Cadillac in the 80s.
Don't sell Lieb short. He was on TV a lot up here when he just ran the Canadian operations and he's a very sharp cookie. Knows that there's far more at stake that some fleeting satisfaction at "winning" the sales numbers.