113,300 Mercedes Benzes were sold worldwide last month, making it the best June performance in the car brand’s history, says parent company Daimler AG. According to this Associated Press piece, demand was especially strong in China and the US, with 13,700 and 18,300 fancy-pants Benzos sold respectively.
Please, someone tell me how the fuck this is in any way consistent with anything we’ve been seeing/hearing over the last few months. Net-worths are being crushed, credit ratings slashed, and discretionary spending budgets reduced everywhere; why are these over-priced shit buckets selling like double sided dildos at a Lady Gaga concert?
Possible explanations for this phenomenon, as I see it:
1. The economy isn’t really as bad as we’re being led to believe, and the markets will soon rebound gloriously to reflect that.
2. The disconnect between the haves and have-nots is growing. Rich people are still making money but less of it is trickling down. Karl Marx’s wet dream is dangerously close to becoming a reality.
3. We’re spending money we don’t have again/still. Society as a whole, and ours in particular, has not learned its lesson.
4. Mercedes=poon, the quest for which defies all logic.
4.5 Aspirational spenders (ie wanna be's, act as if, fake ballers,etc) in the automotive industry are back. And the new E class coupe is pretty badass
O% interest for 6 years and pricess have been slashed, a friend of mine works at MB manhattan and she was telling me it's all in the attractive pricing and just like moneyneversleeps said, fake ballers.
The good times are BACK!
I think it's an intelligent investment to purchase luxury items during downturns in the economy, particularly during long recessions. When the economy rebounds, there will be a huge demand for luxury goods and prices will rise steeply. Currently, these goods are being sold at a discount or even bundled with free accessories, etc., so it makes sense to purchase them now.
cars aren't investments, they depreciate 20% the moment you take them off the dealership
I'm not sure he meant investment in that way (as in purchasing it on the cheap to sell later and make a profit). I think his point was that if you're a person in a position to purchase a benz, it makes sense to do it during a downturn... it's more of a capital expenditure. If you "need" a car... might as well buy it when you can get the most for your money.
Best Luxury Vehicles on the market.... Great company and even better automobiles...
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This is probably just due to terrible 2009 numbers. It seems most car manufacturers are posting huge % gains, but in reality, they are still way off from their 2007/pre-lehman 2008 numbers.
I don't care enough to look up the actual numbers though.
2 and 3.
Who's the best in German cars - BMW, Mercedes or Audi?
personally not really a fan of german cars, but some of those new audis do look pretty sexy..
Porsche
who buys german these days? it's all about the italian...ferrari, lambo, pagani, maserati. mercs and beemers are only driven by yuppies and wanna-be yuppies.
This is a small part of the answer, but people were probably waiting for the new E-Class to come out which might explain some of the lower sales last June.
Possibly, but AP article states "Mercedes-Benz Cars executive Joachim Schmidt said the year-on-year increase in June was the eighth time in a row that sales rose by a double-digit percentage", so clearly, as you said, that's not the whole story.
Meh, buy when everyone is selling and sell when everyone is buying. You figure that out, and you would have figured out God's work.
Everyone with common sense about automobiles knows that Italian cars (other than Ferraris) are the biggest pieces of shit you can buy. Ferrari is the only exception due to its prestigious racing heritage. Shows Dave742 is the real yuppie.
what are you using as a gauge? reliability? you probably used your common sense to buy a honda accord. enjoy going 0-60 in 10.2 seconds, turdbag.
please define "biggest pieces of shit you can buy". i would start with russian, chinese, south american and eastern european car manufacturers before i got anywhere close to italian car companies. you probably used your common sense about automobiles and didn't even realize that those countries/regions manufactured cars.
I can get there in just under 7.6. That kind of power really helps me get from light to light.
You probably have not even driven a European car before because you learned to drive in your daddies cab, whether that was a ford or a chevy. Clown
i'm the son of a cabby? wow, harsh words considering they are coming from a university of colorado boulder graduate who is flaunting his 3.2 gpa and 670 gmat score. no wonder you're based in chicago.
Anyway, back to the subject, Italian cars are not the greatest in general, agreed (except Ferrari, Maserati and Lambo). I gotta say, i've driven all the german brands and BMW takes it away, far better than the others in most aspects, especially the newer models. just my 2 cents.
@Dave742. There is no such thing as a national brand anymore. Volkswagen AG owns Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Lambho, Seat, Skoda and Bugatti. A 250k Bentley is built with the same parts as a 90k Audi A8. Kia makes dashboards for everone from BMW to VW. So many cars nowdays share parts with other makes/models that are assembled all over the world so even if you do think you are driving italian, you are most likely driving German, Russian, Chinese and Korean in one.
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