Photo: Mercedes-Benz USA
Having your cars wanted by every Joe on the street is probably every car manufacturer's dream, but this blessing is sometimes a curse in disguise, especially for car makers like Mercedes-Benz.
As we were also reporting last year, pretty much every single model developed on the MFA (Modular Front Architecture) platform has been having supply problems from too much demand, with the sexy CLA (C117) being the culprit with most “problems.”
In other words, not even Mercedes-Benz was expecting the cars to be so successful, so most European factories are now under-capacity, with the demand beating current production limits.
Speaking with Automotive News about the problem, magic mustache man Dieter Zetsche told them that the three-pointed star car maker plans to lower sales incentives and maybe even raise prices for certain models and markets, at least until the high demand stabilizes and production is increased.
In the last quarter of 2013, sales of Mercedes-Benz models built on the MFA platform increased with 44 percent, while the all-new S-Class sedan was wanted by 43 percent more customers than its W221 predecessor in the same period in 2012, establishing itself as the luxury sedan sales ruler once again.
In other words, not even Mercedes-Benz was expecting the cars to be so successful, so most European factories are now under-capacity, with the demand beating current production limits.
Speaking with Automotive News about the problem, magic mustache man Dieter Zetsche told them that the three-pointed star car maker plans to lower sales incentives and maybe even raise prices for certain models and markets, at least until the high demand stabilizes and production is increased.
In the last quarter of 2013, sales of Mercedes-Benz models built on the MFA platform increased with 44 percent, while the all-new S-Class sedan was wanted by 43 percent more customers than its W221 predecessor in the same period in 2012, establishing itself as the luxury sedan sales ruler once again.
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