Yet another reason to choose BMW over Mercedes-Benz.

@ no. 1

What are the other reason then? I cant think of any. BMW’s are for badge snobs and sales reps.

Why is platform sharing a bad thing? It makes good business sense, freeing up cash to spend else where in development.

Is this good for Chrysler or bad for Mercedes-Benz?

@ no 2 – It shows how much you know and are about cars when you make a blanket statement such as “BMW’s are for badge snobs and sales reps”.

I meant “know and care” – sorry for typo.

Platform sharing can be a very bad thing if Mercedes decides to cheap out so that Chrysler can afford to use the same platform in their cars.

High end cars are not just price inflated, a lot more goes into the components. It doesnt mean they won’t break, but it does mean a lot more technology and research goes into it.

Bottom line is that for this to work Mercedes has to keep their level of quality. If they can do that and make chryslers better cars then more power to them.

mercedes is going downhill now. i would definitely choose a bmw over a merc

Perception of a brand’s quality and reliability always lags behind the reality. M-B quality went downhill fast a few years ago, but M-B strove to put the quality back and it will take a few years for the perception of that return to quality manifest itself

I understand the C class/SLK/CLK but why the E Class/SL/CLS

#3, its both

Good move on the Mercedes Off roaders and jeep platform sharing. Makes sense as they are both premium brands and have similiar platforms. Imagine a Jeep commander style with the mercedes GL interior and mechanicals.

Current Jeeps have the worst styling ever, second only to Dodge’s Dumpster, I mean Caliber

I agree with Zan’s statement. If they can pull it off without sacrificing themselves, by all means MB, knock yourself out.

And I’d have to agree. I don’t think the Commander’s styling is remotely worthy of praise.

Mercedes once stood for the pinnacle of German engineering that a certain buyer was willing to pay for. If Mercedes was not a luxury brand with a luxury cost, then fine, cross-platform away. But it looks like Mercedes is trying to have it both ways.

If they’re saving all that money working with Chrysler, why don’t they just pass the savings on to the consumer, become a middle-of-the-road brand, and then at least the consumer would get something out of the association.

As it is, they’re still “Mercedes” when you pay them, but they’re a mutt when you drive it off the lot.

AF your perception of Mercedes-Benz quality lags behind the reality that Mercedes-Benz pulled their fingers out of their ass to save their reputation. It will take a few years for the poor quality perception to disappear

It isn’t a mater of quality. It’s a matter of heritage. Why spend a premium for a German-engineered car cross engineered with an American company. Quality comes and goes. But what makes a Mercedes a Mercedes anymore?

@ 4 Spoken like a true BMW driver…

To follow up, Audi shares platforms with VW who shares platforms with Skoda/Seat.

Does this devalue the Audi/VW marque? No, quite the opposite, its improved the image of the lesser brands as most of the engineering is done for the former and the platforms are merely used for the latter brands to keep costs down. Same with power plants. Everyone is assuming the Mercs will be built on rubbish US engineered platforms rather than the other way around. Also, Merc has siginficantly improved its quality issues, having seen the error in its ways! Though BMW fans clearly havent been paying attention to relability issues and gaping panel gaps on recent Bavarian offerings! Mind you, said people rarely look beyond the badge and kidney grill anyway…

I’ve worked in the auto industry for 8 years now and currently at FMC where platform sharing has been happening for sometime, allowing resources and finances to be freed up for the development of vastly superior cars with improved build quality.

Animal, when is Ford going to let the public buy those vehicles?

For those of us in Europe… now. To clarify, the improvements are over previous models (not rivals) e.g. Mk2 Euro Focus, new Volvos and the forthcoming new Mondeo, etc etc. The new Focus platform is also destined for the new LR Freelander, the baby XC90, a 4WD CMax and possibly an AWD Focus God knows what FMC is up to in the US – slowly going bankrupt by the looks of things. Loads of people from here are being head hunted to the States to try and clear the mess up!

But this has already been happening. The LX platform is shared with the last E-class… Has that diminished Mercedes’ reputation? Would it make you feel happier if LLN had said “The Dodge Challenger will be based on the same platform as the next Mercedes E-class”?

Animal: When can the American public buy a domestically-branded C1 platform car? Please? Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top?

I like the Euro Focus and the S-max and the B-max looks like it will be cool

I think whom ever wrote this article messed up.
Mercedes will never take from chrysler. Only chrysler will take from mercedes. And it’s only from the discontinued mercedes. So mercedes is always one step infront of chrysler and previous discontinued mercedes model. Even at that, chrysler improves what they recieve and provides a better and cheaper product than thier model it was taken from.

66coronet, I recognize you from Allpar Forums. You’re talking about what has happened between Chrysler and Mercedes in the past. The example you gave of Chrysler getting past Merc technology applies to the Crossfire and LX platform. But just because Chrysler has been slighted up till now by Daimler doesn’t mean they will be in the future. Dieter Zetsche is at the helm now, not Schrempp, and I won’t be surprised if he cross-pollinates more in the future as the article says.

This news is blissful for the new BMW add campaign.

The thing is, Audi/VW aren’t in the same league as Mercedes–or shouldn’t be. I don’t know about you, but Mercedes doesn’t bring much to the table for me except the highest heritage of German luxury engineering. A cozier relationship between Mercedes and Chrysler only further devalues that heritage, if the sharing goes both ways. Because Mercedes can’t do it on their own anymore is really no excuse. It’s just a further example of Mercedes’ declining meaning as a brand, and irrelevance, really, at least for this under-40 driver. Once you can point to Audi as a justification for what Mercedes is doing, Mercedes is not better for the comparison.

I don’t think M-B should have bought Chrysler. BMW offloaded Rover and M-B should offload Chrysler. Mercedes-Benz will never let Chrysler step on its toes, so the next Imperial, if it happens, and I hear that **** really does happen, will be a cheaply made, gimmicky styled product that will have limited appeal in the Mid-West of America where people don’t buy german cars

66coronet, I think we need Bob to come over here and explain to the people what a platform really means.
To paraphrase him it is the “hard points” that can not be changed. But that means that you can have completely different sheet metal and only share the hidden parts. And even then you have the ability to go from something like an Aluminum suspension component to a cast iron in the cheaper model.

The ability to get more life out of the research investment enables MB to spend more on it. That way if MB gets all the cool stuff first and then move the more mature equipment to Chrysler etc. they know that the ROI will be much higher than compared to running it only on the Mercedes brand.

To bring the VW/Audi argument into perspective, Porsche also shares parts with Audi, just to decrease the development costs.

I don’t think that that ability to buy a cheaper vehicle on the same platform as a luxury vehicle is a problem at all. Take the E-Class and a Dodge Charger for instance. You can but a V8 dodge for roughly 20K less than a V6 E-Class. But you have to drive the E-Class to understand why that amount is substantiated. If you want raw power and don’t mind a little “rough around the edges” by all means go with the Dodge. In fact if it was too refined I think it would by nature not be a Dodge. Now the Mercedes is on the other side of the spectrum. Even when you have a monster E55 AMG the power delivery is absolutely smooth and the ride quality is never compromised, but you pay somewhat for all the pampering and sound insulation with performance. The ride in the E is on one word “Majesticâ€?.

@ SkyBlade, nice to see there are a handful of people here who know what they are talking about rather than just blundering in with “BMW rules!!”

In reference to VAG engineering being shared across brands, dont forget the new S6 – with the Lambo engine no less! And does the fact that the R32 Golf has Lambo steering wheel devalue the Gallardo? And lets not forget what the Cayenne really is underneath. Further more, VAG’s aquisition of Lambo has actually improved the quality and reliabilty of recent cars which has dont nothing but improve the brand’s image.

People who jump in claiming this is all down hill for Merc clearly dont understand the ins and out of exactly how platform/component sharing works across brands. As for Audi not being deemed to be in the same league as Merc, which stone have you been hiding under for the last 10 years? Unless the Audi range in the US is smaller than here in Europe (where no body buys Chrysler/Dodge any way!!)

You go Animal !!! You are an animal !!