Mercedes has secretly and drastically frozen the size and weight of every new car it has under development, Leftlane has learned. Stung by criticism of the weight of its M-, GL and R-Classes and hit hard by rising fuel costs, the Mercedes-Benz board is now demanding a five percent model-on-model weight reduction before it will approve any new program.
It has also put an end to the traditional size ”creep” of replacement models by insisting that all new cars retain their current exterior dimensions.
“We have to reduce weight and to do that we have to keep the length of the vehicle to the numbers we have today,” Dr Thomas Weber, Mercedes-Benz’s Director of Research and Development admitted in Spain last week.
“Our first decision as a board was to freeze it (weight) and the second for reducing it.”
“We have set up a clear strategic target of five percent weight reduction, successor-to-successor before any new generation will be approved.”
Admitting the decision had been met with serious disapproval and complaint from engineers and marketers, he said Benz’s hand had been forced by its environmental responsibilities.
“I believe now we are in a completely new situation and we owe it to the future. The awareness of these environmental issues and the oil price are both on a completely new level.”
While its engineers protested about the difficulties of reducing weight and maintaining safety standards, the product planners and marketing boffins believed limiting exterior size hampered their flexibility.
“It used to be that every new car got five to six percent heavier than the one before and five to six percent bigger in its length and width, too,” Dr Weber said.
“But everybody knows it (fuel prices) will never go back and we are running out of oil. We just need to know if and where the prices will stabilize.”
“For technology that was not economical 10 years ago; the calculations are completely different today, so it can be done,” he said.
“If you look to the overall trend a lot of customers like crossovers now, but one important question is the future of SUVs. Do they have one?”
Story and interview by Michael Taylor.
06/12, 12:26 PM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
They should reduce weight and size of their bloated garbage.
06/12, 12:43 PM
posted by:
xyunya
There was a time when the biggest M-B was the smaller then mid-size American iron (and iron it was). Now there is complete role reversal. Impala looks smallish next to S-class or 7 series. M-B should get back to their distinct classic lines and “blue blood” looks, I don’t believe size matters all that much. In Europe they really sell very few gasoline engines and diesel engine does not mind heft and size as much as gasoline counterpart. They should concentrate more on visual expression, which probably would benefit form smaller form.
06/12, 12:56 PM
posted by:
shaver
It is amazing what a bunch of sheep fill the boards of this industry.
“everybody knows it (fuel prices) will never go back and we are running out of oil”
And 5% is way to modest should be 10% min.
06/12, 1:39 PM
posted by:
NoNameDenton1
mayer_ray_nagin, you are correct, they should reduce weight, but many MB cars are pretty good, not garbage.
06/12, 2:25 PM
posted by:
brassmonkey
snore. next story,
06/12, 3:47 PM
posted by:
nickkop
no, really?? i was sure they should lengthen every model by two feet and add another thousand pounds of electronics that 80% of their consumers will never be able or want to learn how to use
06/12, 4:08 PM
posted by:
NoNameDenton1
Now if only they would bring their 4 cylinder turbodiesels here…..
06/12, 4:43 PM
posted by:
Get Real
Make the S-Class more girly-man-like ???
Otto, is this possible ??
06/12, 8:26 PM
posted by:
DrFill
Stunningly responsible!
What you talkin’ ’bout, Mercedes!
DrFill
06/12, 9:28 PM
posted by:
zoomzoomer
Remember, they are talking about NEXT-generation vehicles.. didn’t the C class and S/CL classes just debut, with the new CLK and E classes coming out very soon? None of these are affected by this mandate, nor is the 600+hp SLR replacement I’m sure. So when exactly will the first of these next-gen vehicles actually debut? 2014? By then Toyota will have debuted their FOURTH generation Prius!
06/12, 10:03 PM
posted by:
Veda
Reduced safety with reduced weight? That’s BS. If Honda can do it, why can’t they… unless their engineering is inferior?
06/12, 10:47 PM
posted by:
Blakkarr
Weight is actually a deterrent to safety. With increased weight you get reduced handling, so any maneuvers become harder to pull off and carry greater potential for peril, increased braking distances, and increased parts wear, so parts are more likely to fail over time causing trouble.
A lighter vehicle as safer.
Use higher quality steel, more HIGH QUALITY aluminum and lightweight alloys, for the money I would like to see more composites used, and better structuring. This is a smart move, and should yeild better results over time.
06/13, 1:23 AM
posted by:
NoNameDenton1
Hybrids are also a detriment to safety, because they are so quiet you do not hear them sneak up on you, like that kid who got hit by a Prius while riding his bike.
06/13, 8:46 AM
posted by:
DeansterTJ
When is someone going to come out with a normal car that has nothing but a steering wheel, stereo, stickshift, and pedals in the interior? Where can I get a ****ing inexpensive driver’s car rather than a rolling showcase for bloated gadgets?
06/13, 10:37 AM
posted by:
NoNameDenton1
DeansterTJ, that is not very likely in the near future, manufactures prefer adding more features then subtracting them.
06/13, 11:35 PM
posted by:
GT Pro
All manufacturers should be following MB’s decision here, but even more radically. They are luxury cars, with the finest materials in comfort money can buy. So why not add this principle to the shell of the vehicles? Titanium, Carbon, Aluminium. Consider a negligible increase in price of 5% in doing this, but also reducing the weight 5-10%. Even if the ratio of price increase exceeds the benefit in weight decreasement, I’d take it. Cars should be half their initial weight 30 years ago, not double.
06/15, 6:08 AM
posted by:
Got Handling?
Hey TugJob, how about Honda S2000, Smart ForTwo, Lotus Elise, Mazda MX5 soft top, or a a squillion different Daewoos, Hyundais, Peugeots or Citroens.