January 2017: Mercedes-Benz USA

[William Maley]

Mercedes-Benz USA Delivers Record January Sales Volume With 27,900 Units

ATLANTA, Feb. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) today reported record January sales of 25,527, topping last January's record volume of 24,664 units sold. Adding 2,049 units for Vans and 324 units for smart, MBUSA achieved its highest January to date with a grand total of 27,900 vehicles, up 3.5% from a year ago.

"This is the strong start we look for following a record year," said Dietmar Exler, president and CEO of MBUSA. "We will continue this momentum in 2017, as our product offensive continues with our flagship the new S-Class Sedan and new product offerings rounding out several model lines."

Mercedes-Benz volume leaders in January included the C-Class, E-Class (including the CLS) and GLE model lines. The C-Class took the lead at 6,453, followed by the E-Class sales of 4,155. The GLE rounded out the top three with 3,970 units sold.

Mercedes-AMG high-performance models sold 2,596 units in January, up 36.3% from last year (1,904).

Separately, Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned (MBCPO) models recorded sales of 10,496 vehicles in January, an increase of 5.7% when compared to the same month last year (9,934).

MERCEDES-BENZ USA  Sales -- January 2017
Mercedes-Benz Passenger Vehicles	Jan-17	Jan-16	Monthly %	YTD 2017	YTD 2016	Yearly %
B-CLASS	53	58	-8.6%	53	58	-8.6%
CLA	1,405	3,168	-55.7%	1,405	3,168	-55.7%
C-CLASS	6,453	5,079	27.1%	6,453	5,079	27.1%
E-CLASS/CLS	4,155	2,790	48.9%	4,155	2,790	48.9%
S-CLASS	1,212	1,277	-5.1%	1,212	1,277	-5.1%
SLC	236	266	-11.3%	236	266	-11.3%
SL	232	214	8.4%	232	214	8.4%
AMG GT	81	125	-35.2%	81	125	-35.2%
GLA	2,007	3,041	-34.0%	2,007	3,041	-34.0%
GLC	3,065	2,849	7.6%	3,065	2,849	7.6%
GLE	3,970	3,663	8.4%	3,970	3,663	8.4%
GLS	2,336	1,796	30.1%	2,336	1,796	30.1%
G-CLASS	322	338	-4.7%	322	338	-4.7%
TOTAL	25,527	24,664	3.5%	25,527	24,664	3.5%
Vans1	2,049	1,899	7.9%	2,049	1,899	7.9%
smart	324	399	-18.8%	324	399	-18.8%
MBUSA Combined Total	Jan-17	Jan-16	Monthly %	YTD 2017	YTD 2016	Yearly %
GRAND TOTAL	27,900	26,962	3.5%	27,900	26,962	3.5%
1Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner Sprinter and Metris Vans are sold and marketed in the U.S. by Mercedes-Benz USA and Daimler Vans USA, respectively.

[balthazar]

Looks like the 'bloom is off the daisy' on the FWD "cheap mercedes" experiment.
56% drop is horrific- time for major incentives. GLA sales also took a huge drop in a expanding market. 

This is why any 'sub-ATS / XT2' talk is pure nonsense; this level of car cannot be built to the image of a luxury brand. The value humpers swoop in for the badge and once that market is saturated, there's only a trickle outside that.   

[oldshurst442]

3 minutes ago, balthazar said:

This is why any 'sub-ATS / XT2' talk is pure nonsense; this level of car cannot be built to the image of a luxury brand. The value humpers swoop in for the badge and once that market is saturated, there's only a trickle outside that.   

You always have been saying that!

So have I!

Lets celebrate our wisdom!

Ill dance a Greek Syrtaki....

Also to brighten up the Winter January Blues!

 

[smk4565]

GLA and CLA don't appeal to Mercedes customer base.  The reason they are there is to compete with Audi, Acura, Volvo, etc.  Their purpose is to get people that otherwise aren't Mercedes buyers, I don't think Mercedes ever expected a lot of sales out of them, most of their sales come from the middle of the line up, which is always has.  The CLA and GLA help their CAFE situation too.

Mercedes outsold BMW by over 7,000 cars in January, and BMW was the #2 luxury maker by a comfortable margin.  

[balthazar]

BMW has been in a downward sales spiral for over a year. Their vehicles are beyond stylistically tired, and they've wasted too much time with unappealing niche variants. Time will tell if they can gain direction & turn things around, but here's another month of very lackluster numbers.

The CLA-GLA are mercedes, and being purchased privately, those people are now part of the mercedes customer base- like it or not. Accord-tier consumers- nice.
As the upper series cars stagnate, the middle series cars & low-end cheapies do relatively well, the 'customer base' shifts downward in the 'checkbook spectrum'.
Especially in the relative numbers these 'get em while they're cheep!' models sell. The question is, if sales continue to crash, will Daimler dump them and just wring better MPG out of the core models instead?

[smk4565]

BMW's sales slide still has them as the #2 luxury car maker so it isn't all doom and gloom for them.  

The CLA-GLA I meant are selling to non traditional Mercedes buyers, people aren't trading in e-classes on them, they are attracting different buyers and welcome to the family I say.  Those CLA buyers might get an E-class next time.  

They won't cancel the CLA/GLA, they have European and Chinese volume plus Infiniti using that platform too so they have easy economies of scale there.  Mercedes will be getting a 10-15% fuel economy bump on all gas engines with the 48 volt system starting with 2018 S-class.  And that gain is V6 to I6, V8 to V8, while the new I6 could really replace the Current 4.7L V8 in most cases for bigger gain.  The new S-class 4.0 V8 makes 476 hp, 516 lb-ft, I don't think they really need that much power in the base car.

[G. David Felt]

BMW and MB growth has come at the expense to their Luxury status as the bulk of sales is now based on these posting in the Toyota, Ford, Chevy range. People who want others to think they are rich when they are not and so hoping a badge can give them additional look at me clought. 

The next few years, being by 2020 will tell if this pays off for them or not.

Either way, interesting to watch and see the evolution of the auto industry.

[smk4565]

7 hours ago, dfelt said:

BMW and MB growth has come at the expense to their Luxury status as the bulk of sales is now based on these posting in the Toyota, Ford, Chevy range. People who want others to think they are rich when they are not and so hoping a badge can give them additional look at me clought. 

The next few years, being by 2020 will tell if this pays off for them or not.

Either way, interesting to watch and see the evolution of the auto industry.

Bulk of their sales from the Ford, Chevy Toyota range?  2 of Mercedes top 3 sellers base at $52,000 and are like $70k when equipped how they really sell.  In January Mercedes was a few hundred cars away form outselling Lexus and Cadillac combined, who about 15-20 years ago were the top 2 selling luxury car lines in the USA.  Mercedes is launching 9 EV models by 2025, they are going to bury Cadillac and Lexus both because neither of them will be able to keep up with the product onslaught.  

Edited February 4, 2017 by smk4565

[balthazar]

9 hours ago, smk4565 said:

Those CLA buyers might get an E-class next time.  

People don't trade up within brands, that's a fallacy.

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, smk4565 said:

Bulk of their sales from the Ford, Chevy Toyota range?  2 of Mercedes top 3 sellers base at $52,000 and are like $70k when equipped how they really sell.  In January Mercedes was a few hundred cars away form outselling Lexus and Cadillac combined, who about 15-20 years ago were the top 2 selling luxury car lines in the USA.  Mercedes is launching 9 EV models by 2025, they are going to bury Cadillac and Lexus both because neither of them will be able to keep up with the product onslaught.  

And Toyota, Chevy, Ford, etc. have auto's in that same price range. So that tells us nothing but as MB and BMW have gone down stream, they have picked up people for the badge, these sales are not the same ones that bought MB when it was a true Luxury only auto company.

[frogger]

C and E Class bucking the CUV trend.

 

[smk4565]

1 hour ago, frogger said:

C and E Class bucking the CUV trend.

 

Yep, because they are the best small and mid-size luxury sedans.  The E-class outsold the 5-series, GS, and CTS combined.

[smk4565]

10 hours ago, dfelt said:

And Toyota, Chevy, Ford, etc. have auto's in that same price range. So that tells us nothing but as MB and BMW have gone down stream, they have picked up people for the badge, these sales are not the same ones that bought MB when it was a true Luxury only auto company.

MB sells six figure cars, and currently developing $2+ million hyper car, that they will sell out of.  Here is how many cars luxury brands sold with base price over $50,000 last month:

Mercedes  12,308

BMW  5,307

Cadillac  2,831

Porsche  2,642

Lexus  2,232

Audi  733

[G. David Felt]

39 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

MB sells six figure cars, and currently developing $2+ million hyper car, that they will sell out of.  Here is how many cars luxury brands sold with base price over $50,000 last month:

Mercedes  12,308

BMW  5,307

Cadillac  2,831

Porsche  2,642

Lexus  2,232

Audi  733

And as always you miss the point. MB is NOTjust a Luxury brand ANYLONGER!

MB is a MASS brand now. They sell to everyone at every level. 

I DO NOT CARE, that they spend billions more on R&D as you always like to point out, that they built a $2 million dollar Hyper Car playing catch up to Porsche or that they sell Six Figure cars as Chevy does that TOO!

MB sells commercial trucks to cheap ass FWD appliances and their E brand is the Taxi Queen of Europe. 

END RESULT, MB = Chevy, Toyota, Ford, etc. They are NOT a Luxury brand only, They are a MASS MARKET Builder.

[smk4565]

4 hours ago, dfelt said:

 

END RESULT, MB = Chevy, Toyota, Ford, etc. They are NOT a Luxury brand only, They are a MASS MARKET Builder.

Then why can't Cadillac beat them in the luxury game? 

[balthazar]

'Sales' is not the 'luxury game'.
That's the 'mainstream game'.

Edited February 4, 2017 by balthazar

[smk4565]

46 minutes ago, balthazar said:

'Sales' is not the 'luxury game'.
That's the 'mainstream game'.

They make a heck of a lot more profit than Cadillac too.  The sell more $50,000+ cars than Cadillac, more $100,000+ cars than Cadillac, they make more 500 hp cars than Cadillac, they make more 600 hp cars than Cadillac, they make faster cars than Cadillac, they make more capable semi-autonomous vehicles than Cadillac.  

And you can replace the word Cadillac in the above paragraph with Lexus, Lincoln, BMW, or Audi as well.

Saying "sales don't matter" is what dying brands say.  If sales don't matter, then Alfa Romeo is the most successful car company in the world.

 

And in September the Hypercar will be revealed with track performance that no other road car can match.  I hope they crack the 6 minute mark on the Nurburgring, untouchable. 

Edited February 4, 2017 by smk4565

[G. David Felt]

@smk4565 You have truly shown yourself to be in the narcissistic pool of Trumpettes. Only what you see and want to believe is what is correct and not what actually happens in the real world.

MB no matter what you say is now a MASS Builder MASS Market AUTO Maker to everyone and NOT a Luxury Only Auto Builder. 

That is the truth that you refuse to accept.

[balthazar]

32 minutes ago, dfelt said:

You have truly shown yourself to be in the narcissistic pool of Trumpettes

Why not stick to car talk in car talk thread segments.
Trying to tie politics to automotive preferences is beyond ridiculous.

[G. David Felt]

42 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Why not stick to car talk in car talk thread segments.
Trying to tie politics to automotive preferences is beyond ridiculous.

Was not tieing in politics, was stating that to me SMK is showing to be a Narcissistic person just like Trump.

From a business stand point Trump clearly only sees things his way, his own belief in his mind. SMK has proven to state the same thing.

MB = Mass Market Auto Maker covering entery to luxury auto's

That is how I see it and will stick with that and only that on this auto topic.

Thank you,

[smk4565]

I am actually a democrat,  not that that has anything to do with car talk.   I think it hard to say Mercedes competes directly with Chevy and Toyota when they don't sell $15-25,000 cars.  The cheapest Merceds costs more than an Impala or Avalon, I don't see how Mercedes is mass market appealing to all buyers.  Especially when the A-class line doesn't even sell much. 

[G. David Felt]

41 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

I am actually a democrat,  not that that has anything to do with car talk.   I think it hard to say Mercedes competes directly with Chevy and Toyota when they don't sell $15-25,000 cars.  The cheapest Merceds costs more than an Impala or Avalon, I don't see how Mercedes is mass market appealing to all buyers.  Especially when the A-class line doesn't even sell much. 

But they do, Smartcars or Fortwo as they are now labeled and sit on the same lot right next to your A, B, C, E & S class MB start at $15,000 and go up.

Again, do not care about the political side. 

I am comparing how one business man tends to approach things and my view of you tend to approach defending MB in that same manner.

I am pointing to the fact that Chevy and Toyota do not sell a 200,000 plus auto either but the bulk of the product line from 15,000 for a smart car to their 100,000 luxury line does cover the bulk of what people buy and that puts them in the same market segments as the wider price point auto companies.

[smk4565]

Daimler isn't even really mass market.  They don't even operate where the bulk of car sales happen, like where Civic, Camry, Rav4, Pilot, Traverse, etc sell.  Smart and Vans are a relatively small amount of Daimler's business.  Mercedes-Benz cars is their #1 business segment and #2 is heavy duty tucks from Mercedes, Freightliner and Western Star.

I guess Rolls-Royce must be a mass market car company too, since BMW owns Mini that sells for $22,000. 

[balthazar]

But they WANT to, and desperately. 

Rolls doesn't own BMW, it's the other way around. 
How Daimler possibly resisted branding the smart as a Mercedes would be a fascinating look at management teetering on the edge.

[Suaviloquent]

DFelt you might have gone a bit too far there bud.

 

I agree with SMK here. Mass brand? Well, in the USA, well, yes, they sell more cheaper cars, but they absolutely destory everyone else in their very expensive cars.

 

GM has distinct brands...but I find it ridicuous to belive people are that stupid. As in someone getting a Chevy or Ford, or Asian mainstream...they are not people who normally but Mercedes, and the GLA/CLA are not good values. They are brought here again, to as SMK said, compete with Acura, Audi, Lincoln, Buick.....also, but then you have a huge contradiction within that placement because of the AMG variants...

 

Evne then, Mercedes is successful, very successful. So what if they have a wide product portfolio? Atleast they have what appears to be a lot of flexibility. They can expand into the upper range with S, and Maybach lines, and they can go lower, and they have done it, and gotten away with it. That's a true measure of a brand. Mercedes can get away with doing things....and again, how many people here can raise their hand and say they actually considered any German make for their next vehicle...but decided not to because of cars like the A3, CLA, X1? RIGHT, PROBABLY everyone here expect 1-2 persons in this thread, but don't count me out, I might want a German car one day...

Ultimately, Cadillac does not have that top tier luxury or large performance line. Yes, V is very focused, and perhaps has a die-hard fanbase....but not really outside of America.... and with GM's product planning you end up with washed up products like the Buick Envision from a near-luxury brand like Buick, which is just merely competent, yet because it sells, it must be a truly a luxury revolution, right?

And the GLA is again, merely competent....yet SMK himself has said enough that those vehicles are not meant to be a reinvention of luxury. No one has yet to actually make a small vehicle that is absurdly dripping with luxo, and it just would not make any sense. 

And it isn't to say brand snobbery is a truly bad thing. If it keeps the sales coming....I mean THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT CADILLAC AND LINCOLN WANT. They want a return to the glory days where they were in that position...It doesn't have to equate sales....but when the S-Class is itself in a league of one when it comes to overall status and prestige around that price point of $100,000 to $250,000.....you cannot imagine how jealous American makes are. They are so worried that a product like that will ultimately fail in the market. Because failed to compete, and they got pushed out....

 

Anyways, rant over....

 

[Suaviloquent]

I think the issue is not the objective measures of sales, but the subjective issue of branding, and it's value.

 

Here, people are opinionated, and domestic makes are always undoubtedly now more and more being placed at the top of the food chain or in the hunt. But they're woefully behind when it comes to the kind of value that can sell prestige alone. Well, the new GT is nice, but it's only a 4-year run. Ford's main business is not the business of making a money-losing supercar, even if it won Le Mans. It's rather an investment into the brand which is intangible, no one can measure it, but it might have an effect. For example, EcoBoost engines might actually be considered as true alternative to higher displacement N/A engines. Because if a downsized blown motor can beat larger engines, at RACING....then it's proven it's worth to deliver performace, if executed right, in mainstream cars... No truck review has ever complained really that EB motors lack the grunt, and pushing them hard, well, you push any engine so hard, you will get terrible mileage....I'm not trying to make any real point here, I'm just providing some form of context to see how EB might have higher brand value...

Ask most lay persons, they DO NOT GIVE A SINGLE FOCK (as in that will not deter any purchace consideration to Mercedes) that Mercedes builds cheaper cars or sells vans, or that their brand is also known for heavy trucks. They only have the majority of their exposure and visibility to the best that Mercedes makes, their cars that are C and above and SUVS/Crossovers GLC and above....

[G. David Felt]

7 hours ago, Suaviloquent said:

I think the issue is not the objective measures of sales, but the subjective issue of branding, and it's value.

I would agree with this!