Comments on: Mercedes-Benz staying the course with ailing R-Class

By: jonmiles

jonmiles — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 05:31:29 +0000

golf- this isn’t a wagon; it’s a re-badged minivan.

By: jonmiles

jonmiles — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 05:30:15 +0000

I love that LLN made the Lion’s reference in this post… so true

By: Need more oil for GM

Need more oil for GM — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:55:16 +0000

Why? thr R-class is a failure just like Mercedes is a failure. Sh1tcan both of them, America will be better off for it

By: howsmydriving

howsmydriving — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:38:55 +0000

The problem with R is that by virtue of its retardedness, the image of the entire MB brand is tarnished. That’s a big price to pay for a company whose image isn’t what it once was.

By: JakeK66

JakeK66 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:41:48 +0000

Johnnyc…

The answer to that question is this and the Aztek.

By: Other Man

Other Man — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:32:37 +0000

I think the main buyers were those who were looking at topline Odysseys, Siennas, etc for about 40K and could afford more, but didn’t know they had the choice, saw this, and bought it.

The diesel would be an interesting van feature, in a good way, but I would prefer sliding doors. So it’s a mixed bag for me.

By: golf4me

golf4me — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:11:50 +0000

I always kind of liked this, but I’m a wagon-lover, which is pretty rare anyway. If they were looking to sell 25000 and are selling 18000 in a poor market, I’d say it’s not as bad a flop as say, the Flex. Really, it’s a nice package for a small family, it’s just too expensive and funky for most families.

By: Blakkarr

Blakkarr — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:25:53 +0000

Dangerous1,

It’s alright there. MERCEDES-BENZ is getting more than a bit bloated. You also forgot the A-class (which may be US bound and the B-class(still Europe-only). Their line-up reminds me of CHEVROLET’s, having something for almost everything.

Their biggest problem in the R-class is that they have a healthy line-up of SUVs, all they need is a truck, which “might” happen. CHEVY tried repeatedly to float a minivan and couldn’t because of their SUVs. The R-class is victim of this same dynamic but worse becasue “if you can afford a MERCEDES, why on God’s ever-borwning Earth would you buy a minivan”?

Minivans, no matter how good lose out next to SUVs, especially when that minivan does NOT have minivan utility, like being able to walk, even if hunched over, in the cabin fairly easily.

By: Gundy

Gundy — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:53:34 +0000

It’s the most-comfortable, safest, quietest, all-around best people-mover available. But it is a bit odd-lookin’. I’d still have one if I could afford to buy every vehicle that I liked though..

By: Dangerous1

Dangerous1 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:53:02 +0000

Sorry for the mistake in my list of current vehicles. I can’t edit my post and I typed the S, E & C-Class lines twice.

By: Dangerous1

Dangerous1 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:50:41 +0000

Why did Mercedes introduce this unnecessary vehicle in the first place? It’s frightfully expensive (about $50,000 to drive one home), ungainly (a monster tall wagon) and thirsty so no winder why it’s not selling well.

IMOHO, M-B has too many models in their USA showrooms. In the past several years every company wanted to be a full line manufacturer, and is this really necessary? Remember 25 years when M-B only had 4 models in the USA and they were admired for their exclusivity and still made buckets of money?

The current line in the USA exists of:

S-Class
E-Class
C-Class
S-Class
SL-Class
SLK-Class
C-Class
CL-Class
CLK-Class
CLS-Class
E-Class
G-Class
GL-Class
GLK-Class
R-Class
ML-Class

Too many models?

By: darx_ider

darx_ider — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:27:30 +0000

Very well said Johnny

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:21:53 +0000

This is what happens when you try to answer a question that nobody asked.

By: Blakkarr

Blakkarr — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:43:55 +0000

Was the R-class supposed to be a CUV (See “Tall wagon”), A RWD Minivan (I miss those), and tall wagon (That is starting to look like a hot future segment), or an upmarket Pacifica (Maybe the first Tall Wagon – could have used some updates)?

I’d like to see the proposal doc for the R-class, if I could read German. It is likely a very defuse reading document denoting no specific mission or goal for the vehicle.

By: Jon Luc

Jon Luc — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:43:45 +0000

I agree.

By: TomF

TomF — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:36:47 +0000

The flat-out silliest vehicle in the MB stable.

By: anti-believer

anti-believer — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:31:18 +0000

LOL haha

By: aesir

aesir — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:50:59 +0000

LMAO, took the words out of my mouth.

By: mayer_ray_nagin

mayer_ray_nagin — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:47:51 +0000

The
R idiculous
Class