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The name of the company that made/makes our cars

Started by Denis, 12 July 2006, 11:43 AM

Denis

Hello gentlemen

It is summer up here and time to have some small-talk  ::)

I was talking with Paul Bracq last night. He is the man that penned the bodywork of the 300SE coupe and cabriolet of 1961, the 230SL pagoda of 1963, the 600 grosser of 1963, the W108/W109 the W114/W115 and so on.

He CANNOT accept that "his" company has become Daimler-CHRYSLER. We jokingly laughed on the commercial prospects of a champagne which would be called Dom Perignon - Cola.

Personally, I hate it as much as I hate Juergen Schrempp's (now dismissed)...demolition of the Mercedes name with a "Maybach".

Any feelings about this ?

Denis

Paris, France

oscar

I can imagine that mergers of this kind would be hard to accept from purists, loyalists and the like.  It's always a sore point in Aus when a food giants take over an aussie brand like  Vegemite or Arnott's.

For cars the same deal.  Especially when nationalism comes into it.   Jaguars are/were as British as can be and now i can't remember who owns them but they've been involved in mergers for years.  I suppose all car manufacturers have their hands in each others pockets trying to hedge their bets for financial sustainability. 

It all comes down to what independance a brand retains to set it apart from the others.  But still, I can't understand why the Daimler- Chrysler thing happened.  Was it for marketshare in the US?
1973 350SE, my first & fave

davestlouis

Wanna vomit down you shirt? Watch the new Chrysler TV ad's with "ask Dr. Z", touting the German connection on Dodge and Chrysler cars with Dr Zietzche(spelling?) speaking in a heavy German accent that I suspect many people can't make any sense of.  They never quite say that Mercedes engineering filtered down to the Dodge cars, but they leave heavy hints to that effect. 

Denis

Hi fellows

Just a few comments. I also have no problem with teh maybach name BUT :
1 - Made S classes lesser cars in the company
2 - Usurped the place of the grosser 600 making a replacement Mercedes model impossible
3 - Shifted the whole Mercedes product line (with the help of J.Schrempp) down a notch

The MBZ group did not merge with Chrysler, they bought it out ! But for marketing purposes (and save Mopar lovers from "nazi invasion of AmeriKa" stories), the name Chrysler was tacked on and old Karl thrown in the garbage pail of automotive history.

Jaguar is owned by Ford, so be it but I personally know a fellow that does work for Jaguar and insofar as he is concerned, it is an english car, a Jaguar, period. Not a Jaguar-Escort or a Jaguar-Mondeo...

As for the Chrysler advert, it was predictable : "jawohl mein friend von USA, vee friends as once vee alzo helped to deezein sehr gut car like "K" car, remember K car ???, vee put in two W116 parts to make it besser"

Sorry, ...must leave, I am feeling indisposed.

Denis

Paris, France

davestlouis

I saw a blurb in Bimmer magazine this month about annual sales, per brand, at US dealerships.  Maybach had the lowest, with 2 units, per dealership, per year...lower than Rolls, Bentley, even Lamborghini and Aston Martin.  Not a real stellar showing if you ask me. 

116.025

I used to think the Maybach was cool, but then I came to the realization that others have already mentioned...I bumps the S-Class down a notch, and makes replacing the 600s impossible.

I'm just glad to see that fiend Schrempp gone, since (as I understand) he was about the only one on the German side in favor of the takeover, and did very well because of it.  As for the name, I can only barely make myself say Daimler-XXXXXXXX...ok, I'm not that good at it yet...I still can't type it out...

Denis

Hi fellows

Juergen Schrempp was kicked out of Mercedes because his approach dilipidated the Mercedes-Benz name. It takes decades to build a reputation but one idiot to knock it down :

- downgrade the top model
- build low cost garbagemobiles bearing the name of the top model
- introduce medium cost models with reliability issues (C-class)


It could have been worse - the S -class could have had reliability problems !!!

Denis

Paris, France

Des



I have varying thoughts on the Maybach, to me it looks like a big S class, much like the W108's compared to the 600 Grosser. I think it is wrong to relegate the Mercedes badge and brand to play second fiddle. The Maybach brand is well known for its automotive excellence within Germany, that's where it should have stayed, a piece of history. The Maybach should have simply been called the 600, with the Mercedes stay standing straight and tall on the bonnet. I admire the Maybach 67, although I feel they may be in a situation of identity crisis, with the recent release of the 57S, what are they trying to do? Make a sporty limo? Don't we already have that with the S Class saloons? Mercedes has for decades built low volume, exclusive top end cars for the dictators of evil empires, heads of industry, oil barons and film and music celebrities, this should not change.

I really love the look of the Maybach Exelero, what do others think?





BAR

Does it demean and devalue the Audi [of whatever model you care to nominate] that VW, SEAT, Skoda, Lada etc all use the chassis / engine / suspension and other components? Doesn it hurst the sale of Lamborghini that it hares the same owner? Get a grip guys!

Brand marketing is where motor manufacturers have been for decades. Will you all go out and use long knives on your bodies when Renault / Nissan buy General Motors?  I think not.

So let Mercedes use a Brand - Maybach - to put forward a ridiculously extravagant car that only a few want to buy [too few for the long term viability of the product].  Let them also use the Brand - SMART - to make another car that another ridiculous car that again too few want to buy [too few for the long term viability of the product].  Here one car is relatively so cheap and the other so expensive: the similarity is both have missed the market.  Both may also fail to live long and prosper.

robgee

Hi guys at the end of the day  these are companies who have to make a profit for shareholders much as we may mourn the loss of the old ways life goes on and is driven by profitability as always.
I tend to think that the majority of the first owners of the cars we now enjoy wouldn't really have given a toss for the takeover as long as they made dollars.But then we can all take solace from the fact that greed is probably not a driving factor for motoring enthusiasts like ourseleves is it?
Regards,
Rob.

Denis

Hi

I think that the Maybach Exelero looks like that bird, tweety pie ? that Sylvester wants to eat for supper  ;D

I did, I did saw a nasty Mercedes  :P

Denis

Paris, France


Martin 280s

Brand marketing is something which happens everywhere. I'm currently contracted by TraneWabcoIdealStandard Ltda. which is part of American Standard Companies. This may not mean anything to you but you know their brands. American Standard, Porcher, Armitate Shanks, Armitage Venesta, Trane, WABCO (Westinghouse Air Brakes) etc.

The name Daimler-Chrysler offends me too, but it's just a name. Technically speaking Chrysler may have benefitted more from the take over than MB did, Chrysler seems to have moved up a notch or too. Just look at the Crossfire, it's a superb MB coupé with another name.

Does anyone remember the Honda/Triumph cars in the early 80's? Where are they now? Who's to say this MB/Chrysler union will last. 

Putting the name Maybach on a car is a good thing, Wilhelm Maybach did a lot for MB when he worked there, he should have his own marque re-kindled. Although it's a bit ironic that early Maybachs were built using MB chassis as a basis and now MB are just badge engineering a lavish MB design.

I agree that this project has brought down a bit the brand MB but, not sufficient to damage it. We must think.."How often will you see a Maybach and how long will it stay in production?" To some people the Maybach will only ever be a picture in a magazine while an MB could be reality. (I'm one of those too)
 
MB has outlived many other 'superior' marques and will continue to do so. At least our cars proudly carry the name Daimler-Benz ;D!

WGB

Maybach was Daimler's original engineer before he branched out on his own.

Mind you Ferdinand Porsche started with Mercedes-Benz.

Anyway I hear rumours that Daimler-Benz is losing money with Chrysler and wants out so it might all end up amicably.

After nearly 20 years of buying New Mercedes-Benzes - including through the "Quality" years my new ML 500 from Tuscaloosa is the first one with no faults whatsoever - 6,000 km in 2 1/2 months and still nothing wrong at all - don't be too hard on D-C.

Bill

gregdeklerk

DC is negotiating with potential buyers for the Chrysler division.

Grant V

When Daimler finally unload Chrysler, the share price should sky rocket. Buy now!

I think it was a lack of foresight on DC's part to try and re-build the Maybach name. The brand has zero equity - most people alive today (except in Germany) don't even remember Maybach and what it stood for.
If they had decided to brand their new ultra luxury car the 600, things may have been different. The 600 was still available less than 30 years ago, and virtually anyone who knows a little about Mercedes Benz, surely recognises what the 600 stood for. It was, quite simply, the best and most exclusive luxury sedan that money could buy - a total "F$%ck you all - look what we can build!!" statement from Daimler-Benz.
I think that the intention with the Maybach was to create the same statement once again, and they have probably succeeded with this car, but low sales are not an indication that the car is too expensive, it's an indication that potential buyers don't know/understand/trust the brand.
"You've bought another bloody car?!? We should have you committed!" he shrieked, storming out of the room