Anim8or

Yeah, the next few years will see BMW and Audi on even footing, constantly trying to one-up each other. This'll spell great cars for both companies, with its consumers being the real winners.

And all the while Mercedes, the only German luxury car maker that's actually losing money, will continue to plummet in prestige and market share.

Curb Zone

 

shonguiz

Why do you think so ??

The Artist

wow please share with us your source to why you think so.. if we would go by your theory MB will go bankruppt in 7-10 year

Audi4Life

actually dude the last results of the sales...MB went way up

RikfromBelgium

sales of december are the most useless figures you can get, lots of deals and discounts at the end of the year. Total figures are way more important. And I have to say I'm far more impressed by those of audi than MB. They had little to show at the end of the year, small positive numbers despite having high-number cars like A, B, SLK, M ( for some months ) being out.

Yannis

We are a little off topic here guys. This is not a thread about sale numbers but about the Airjet concept showing how the next A4 will look like.

Back to topic.

I find the idea of presenting a Sportback version of the new A4 intelligent. Some people want the versitality of a wagon/Avant but also want a sportier looking car that a wagon and the A4 Sportback will surely appeal to them.

Anim8or

Two reasons:

One, Mercedes has been hemorrhaging money ever since they merged with Daimler Chrysler. The American infusion has unfocused the German management prowess of the once great company. Manufacturing integrity has been compromised resulting in decreased reliability ratings. The savvy European public picked up on this and has been switching to BMW, Audi and Porsche in droves. Americans of course are behind the curve concerning Merc's dropped quality, but sales are already starting to show signs of erosion in the US.

Two, Merc's relatively low participation in Motor sport has resulted in performance cars to have lost edge over BMW's M cars and Audi's budding quattro Gmbh output. If you look at engine technology, BMW and Audi have made more progress than Merc. They both have adapted sophisticated technologies (Valvetronic, FSI) that yeild more power per liter without forced induction. Just look at Audi's 420 bhp 4.2 liter engine. That's 100 bhp per liter WITHOUT Turbo or supercharging. BMW's forthcoming 4.0 liter V8 in the M3 also achieves a 100bhp-per-liter output of 400bhp.

Now, it is true that Merc actually has some more powerful high performance cars than Audi and BMW. And yes, their engines are very modern and efficient, but take away Merc's old-school supercharging advantage and you'll find a less capable engine.

Now, I don't in any way suggest that Merc is a poor car company. Their historic place in motor sport and automotive innovation is in many ways unsurpassed. In fact, the differences between the 3 German titans are often so slight its like splitting hairs. But a one percent disadvantage can be enough topple the king of the hill.

So Merc has lost a slight edge in both management and technology. And the plain and simple fact is that they are losing money, while BMW, Audi, and especially Porsche are posting record profits.

Luxury cars are a high-markup business, much more than other cars except SUV's (yes, we are being ripped off my friends). So to hear that the most famous prestige car company to be losing money is bad, really, really bad.

bum-man

Wrong, Merc had problems even before the Chrysler takeover. Their factories simply didn't operate at the level of efficiency of VAGs, BMWs, and Porsches.

Hmm...I do recall Mercedes winning the 2005 DTM championship not Audi, and where was Williams BMW the 2005 Formula 1 season? Did they even participate?
Wow we are going back to the hp per litre argument to argue brand superiority again.
Call me when Audi or BMW actually know how to make a light engine. If they are so concerned about weight it's the best place to start.

Anim8or

It's common industry knowledge that Chrysler management is the major contrubutor to Mercs declining quality. There was a great article about a year ago in BusinessWeek about this. But yes, they obviously had problems before the merger.

As far as motorsport, You are right about Merc's success with DTM. But I should have been specific in saying that I think Merc needs to return to Le Mans.

And as far as engine weight. That is but one part of a complex equasion that includes fuel efficiency, horsepower per liter, and sophistication of power delivery. Nevertheless, engines like BMW's 255 HP inline 3.0, for example, blow away almost everything else on the market in terms of weight. In fact BMW is well-known to manufacture some of the world's lightest engines.

But sorry to take this post so off topic. This isn't about Mercedes, or even BMW.

Let's get back to talking about about a German car company on the rise; namely Audi.

Curb Zone