brad 20 Jun 05

Wow, they’ll really kill off the Saab if they put a GM chrome logo on it. I think the main reason nobody buys Saabs anymore is because GM turned them into boring Detroit-style cars that look like everything else on the road. But a few people think they’re still exotic status symbols and buy them for that reason. A GM logo would be the kiss of death.

Kevin 20 Jun 05

Well see, the thing is, Mercedes just got rated really poor for reliability by J.D. Powers and well they thought if there cars looked like Oldsmobiles or Caddies, people wouldn’t notice…

Errr, thats not right. WTH. I’m gonna pay $130K for an Olds….

Dan Boland 20 Jun 05

What baffles me is when corporations try to do things that have already been complete failures for someone else. You don’t see Toyota putting their logo on Lexuses and Scions, do you? No, because that’s stupid.

David 20 Jun 05

I happen to love that S-Class design. The GM logos, on the other hand, are ludicrous. The whole reason General Motors has been on a 25-year decline is because there was too much GM-ness across marques and product platforms. Now that their brands are finally trying to assert individual identities, they have to slap a reminder on every single car that GM is the mother ship. This will hurt, not help, market share.

There’s nothing wrong with GM asserting its corporate hierarchy in lesser areas, the way, say, most bathroom items are branded with both the brand (“Crest”) and a smaller, subtler corporate stamp (“P&G”). But the comments before mine say it best: no one is going to make a happy connection between a Chevy, a Saab and a Hummer. And who would ever want more visible branding on a car, Nascar aside?

Steven H. 20 Jun 05

In looking at all the images of the new S there seems to be a few cues taken from the much-criticized BMW 7 Series. Take a look at the trunk lines or the iDrive like controls in the interior, although I don’t think they’re as well executed as in the latest rev of the 7 series. Ugly steering wheel too.

Benjy 20 Jun 05

From the first pics I saw of the new S-Class pic, I liked it. It’s crisp, and the overall shape is nice. But then I saw the side profile and saw those hideous fenders around the wheels. What were they thinking?!?! Totally ruins the design.

Didn’t GM learn back in the 80’s that the idea is to differentiate their brands? If I’m driving a Caddy or a Saab, I don’t want to be reminded that it’s made by the same people who make Saturn. This seems like a move to promote the company’s stock rather than the company’s product. Bad idea…

Theo 20 Jun 05

So GM is laying off 25,000 workers, and yet has a new advertising campaign offering all their customers an “employee discount”. I wondered if anyone else had gotten the sick joke, and came across this blog:

http://dragonballyee.blogs.com/philly/2005/06/gms_layoff_and_.html

Dan Boland 20 Jun 05

So GM is laying off 25,000 workers, and yet has a new advertising campaign offering all their customers an �employee discount�.

I’m with you on the employee discount promotion. The first time I saw the commercial, I said to my wife, “then what do the employees get, a dick in the ass?” (Pardon the vulgarity, just keepin’ it real.)

Matthew Huie 20 Jun 05

I think it needs more of a redesign, it looks like it just got a facelift. The front, which I like almost looks the same as the previous generation.

Those wheel arches / fenders they stole from Audi and the trunk lid off of BMW.

martin 20 Jun 05

It’s no Aston Martin V8 Vantage… the most perfect car in the world (imo).

http://www.astonmartin.com/thecars/v8vantage/specification-3

Johnny 20 Jun 05

Maybe the can ask Toyota to raise it’s prices even more?

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/apbiz_story.asp?category=1310&slug=Toyota%20Prices&dpfrom=2

Paul 20 Jun 05

Well, at least the analog clock on the dash is nice.

ffub 20 Jun 05

In other news, Unilever are going to put a big ‘U’ on all of their products. I mean honestly, why have brands?

“We felt that not enough people recognised our brands as actually being the same products just repackaged and marketed at different price ranges.”

The different brands of various companies have different production methods, materials, features, business partners, and engineering. They’re often made in different countries, and for different countries. Not to mention the cost of bothering to make a car/product look nicer, and then offsetting that by charging more, because - surprise, some peeps want it to look nicer and don’t mind if you charge more.

If you keep reminding them that the parent company is the same then, not knowing the wonders of modern capitalism *cough*, they’re going to think the products are all the same too. This shows a grave lack of confidence by General Motors in their brands, and that is, unfortunately, what the customer is going to see.

Mark 20 Jun 05

So where did German Car Fans get those photos?

They’re certainly not the photos of the ‘06 S Class (in any price range) that the Mercedes US or International sites are showing.

Michael 21 Jun 05

Yuck. Big fender flares on an S-Class? Striped taillights? Overall it looks to busy/fussy. Although I do like the sweeping arc along the beltline.

pamplmoose 21 Jun 05

You have got to be kidding me. The new S Class is gorgeous, and so is the Maybach.

brad 21 Jun 05

You have got to be kidding me. The new S Class is gorgeous, and so is the Maybach.

Keep in mind, though, that this comment is coming from a grapefruit ;-)

BENZ IS THE SHIIIIIIIIIIIT MAN 21 Jul 05

FIRST THE BENZ IS THE TOP ATT A LINE ALWAYS N ALL YA BMW HATAZ CAN KISS MA ASS , THE NEW S500 IS THE MOST LUXIOURUS CAR AND THE MAYBACK I DON EVEN WANNA SAY NONE YOU KNOW THE REST N I OWN A BENZ

chima chinda 25 Nov 05

i grew up in a benz family and i’m a very big fan too,but i think that mercedes is falling behind other manufact. like bmw.mercs no longer pop jaws as they used to,their cars look like their previous models,and smaller.they urgently need to improve their designs or else……………………

chima chinda 25 Nov 05

this one is for Brian .T. first, and Martin.don know how well u see cos the maybach is clearly an extremely beautiful car.And martin despite mercs lack of design creativity,the CLS is the most perfect,i repeat THE MOST PERFECT CAR INTHE WORLD,not the aston martin vantage.