Photo: Mercedes-Benz
Precisely 2,164,186 passenger cars were sold by Mercedes-Benz last year across the world, which makes the Stuttgart-based manufacturer one of the top dogs in the luxury segment. The BMW brand and BMW Group as a whole, by comparison, finished 2020 with 2,028,659 and 2,324,809 sales.
Including the smart micro-car brand, Mercedes-Benz is now celebrating the 50-millionth passenger vehicle produced in the past 75 years. The anniversary car is the first example of the all-new Maybach S-Class and was built at Factory 56 in Sindelfingen, Germany. The three-pointed star is very proud of this milestone, but something appears to be odd with the following quote from Jörg Burzer, member of the Board of Management responsible for the Production and Supply Chain.
“Mercedes-Benz has always been synonymous with luxury. That’s why I’m very proud of this very special production anniversary. I would like to thank the colleagues in the plants around the world for their work and their commitment. Their expertise and passion in the production of our stars make the wishes of customers all over the world come true day after day.”
What’s missing from this corporate gibberish, you ask? Well, let us rewind to October 2020 when chief executive officer Ola Kallenius said that “we went a bit too far to cover each and every space into each and every segment. Compact particularly comes to mind.” He is completely right, and the Three-Pointed Star has made this mistake in the early 2000s as well.
The C-Class SportCoupé comes to mind, introduced in the United States for the 2002 model year and discontinued after the 2005 model year. It was the most affordable Merc in the U.S. back then, but the nasty interior and uninspiring powertrain left much to be desired compared to the brand image created by proper Mercedes nameplates such as the S-Class and SL.
Going forward, the German manufacturer is going to pour a lot of resources into EV development because no legacy automaker can ignore the meteoric rise of electric vehicles any longer. A total of six new EQ models will be introduced by 2022, including the EQS that is lovingly nicknamed the S-Class of EVs.
“Mercedes-Benz has always been synonymous with luxury. That’s why I’m very proud of this very special production anniversary. I would like to thank the colleagues in the plants around the world for their work and their commitment. Their expertise and passion in the production of our stars make the wishes of customers all over the world come true day after day.”
What’s missing from this corporate gibberish, you ask? Well, let us rewind to October 2020 when chief executive officer Ola Kallenius said that “we went a bit too far to cover each and every space into each and every segment. Compact particularly comes to mind.” He is completely right, and the Three-Pointed Star has made this mistake in the early 2000s as well.
The C-Class SportCoupé comes to mind, introduced in the United States for the 2002 model year and discontinued after the 2005 model year. It was the most affordable Merc in the U.S. back then, but the nasty interior and uninspiring powertrain left much to be desired compared to the brand image created by proper Mercedes nameplates such as the S-Class and SL.
Going forward, the German manufacturer is going to pour a lot of resources into EV development because no legacy automaker can ignore the meteoric rise of electric vehicles any longer. A total of six new EQ models will be introduced by 2022, including the EQS that is lovingly nicknamed the S-Class of EVs.
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