If there's a niche, fill it. And if there isn't a niche, create a new one. That's the mantra at Mercedes-Benz these days. Thirty years ago Mercedes' entire lineup -- 190E, E-Class, S-Class, SEC, SL, G-Wagen -- would have fit in a modest showroom. Today you'd need one of those giant faux-marble garaj mahals beloved of auto-alley mavens to house the 15 models now carrying the three-pointed star.
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And more are coming.
Daimler AG will launch no fewer than 11 all-new Mercedes models -- vehicles that currently have no counterpart in the existing lineup, says Mercedes-Benz sales and marketing chief Ola Källenius -- by 2020. And existing model families will be expanded: The recently launched S-Class plug-in hybrid (pictured below) is the first of 10 plug-in hybrid-powered Mercedes vehicles to be launched over the next three years. The next-gen GLK and M-Class SUV families will grow to include sporty, coupe-like variants to compete with BMW's X6 and X4.
The new Mercedes-AMG GT, Daimler's 911-fighter, will evolve into a model range aimed at the heart of Porsche's iconic sports car. Expect GT and GT S convertibles, a track-focused version to take on the 911 GT3, and an ultra-high-performance model, possibly with all-wheel drive, to challenge the 911 Turbo. There are even whispers the GT platform could be stretched to create a four-door coupe to compete with Porsche's Panamera.
The XXL S-Class launched at the L.A. show and badged Mercedes-Maybach will be joined this year by an even larger version: The Mercedes-Maybach Pullman will be almost 3 feet longer than the regular long wheelbase S-Class, hand-built by German tuner Brabus with a base price rumored to be around $600,000.
The three-pointed star is also expanding into segments that were once the heartland of mainstream automakers such as GM and Ford. About 75 percent of buyers of the entry-level CLA sedan, which costs about the same as a well-equipped Ford Fusion, are first-time Mercedes buyers, for example. (Audi's claiming an almost identical percentage of conquest sales in the U.S. for the new A3 sedan. Numbers like these should be cause for concern at Chevy and Ford. Toyota and Honda, too.)
<blockquote align="Center"><p>The three-pointed star is also expanding into segments that were once the heartland of mainstream automakers such as GM and Ford.
Despite the success of compact vehicles such as the CLA sedan and GLA SUV, Daimler has no intention of chasing mainstream automakers into smaller vehicle segments with Mercedes. That's a job for Smart, which recently revealed an all-new Forfour four-door, built on a new rear-engine, rear-drive platform shared with Renault's Twingo city car. "We have no plans to go below A-Class," Källenius says. "We have no [Fiesta-sized] car planned with the three-pointed star on it."
You won't see the three-pointed star on a mid-engine supercar, either. A mid-engine Mercedes-Benz rival to the Porsche 918, McLaren P1, and LaFerrari hybrid hypercars seems a no-brainer, especially given Daimler's expensive investment in Formula 1 hybrid technology. But senior Daimler sources categorically rule out the idea: "We will never build a mid-engine car," vows one. That leaves two alternative scenarios: Daimler develops a brand-new front-engine Mercedes-AMG hypercar with all-wheel drive and an advanced 700-900-hp hybrid powertrain. Or it buys Aston Martin.
Daimler already has a deal in place to supply engines to the storied British sports car maker, which badly needs a wealthy patron. And newly minted Aston CEO Andy Palmer, Nissan's former product chief, enjoys deep relationships with Stuttgart thanks to his oversight of various Daimler/Renault-Nissan alliance projects. (The next-gen Mercedes A-Class will come off a platform jointly developed by the alliance partners.)
Daimler could afford to keep Aston Martin very exclusive, using it to blunt both Bentley and Ferrari (and not just with sports cars; an Aston Martin Lagonda sedan could take on the Bentley Flying Spur and Ferrari FF) while Mercedes-Maybach concentrates on attacking Rolls-Royce and Mercedes-AMG goes after Porsche. A mid-engine Aston Martin supercar? Why not? The idea was floated more than a decade ago. Jaguar design chief Ian Callum, the man who penned the gorgeous DB7, DB9, and Vanquish while at Aston, still has the drawings...
More from The Big Picture:
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated by cars. My father was a mechanic, and some of my earliest memories are of handing him wrenches as he worked to turn a succession of down-at-heel secondhand cars into reliable family transportation. Later, when I was about 12, I’d be allowed to back the Valiant station wagon out onto the street and drive it around to the front of the house to wash it. We had the cleanest Valiant in the world.
I got my driver’s license exactly three months after my 16th birthday in a Series II Land Rover, ex-Australian Army with no synchro on first or second and about a million miles on the clock. “Pass your test in that,” said Dad, “and you’ll be able to drive anything.” He was right. Nearly four decades later I’ve driven everything from a Bugatti Veyron to a Volvo 18-wheeler, on roads and tracks all over the world. Very few people get the opportunity to parlay their passion into a career. I’m one of those fortunate few.
I started editing my local car club magazine, partly because no-one else would do it, and partly because I’d sold my rally car to get the deposit for my first house, and wanted to stay involved in the sport. Then one day someone handed me a free local sports paper and said they might want car stuff in it. I rang the editor and to my surprise she said yes. There was no pay, but I did get press passes, which meant I got into the races for free. And meet real automotive journalists in the pressroom. And watch and learn.
It’s been a helluva ride ever since. I’ve written about everything from Formula 1 to Sprint Car racing; from new cars and trucks to wild street machines and multi-million dollar classics; from global industry trends to secondhand car dealers. I’ve done automotive TV shows and radio shows, and helped create automotive websites, iMags and mobile apps. I’ve been the editor-in-chief of leading automotive media brands in Australia, Great Britain, and the United States. And I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. The longer I’m in this business the more astonished I am these fiendishly complicated devices we call automobiles get made at all, and how accomplished they have become at doing what they’re designed to do. I believe all new cars should be great, and I’m disappointed when they’re not. Over the years I’ve come to realize cars are the result of a complex interaction of people, politics and process, which is why they’re all different. And why they continue to fascinate me.Read More
