S-class coupé and cabriolet to be discontinued?

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gr1nch

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For the next revisions, already? Yes, if this article proves correct. I can't imagine the gap will be filled from "below" with enlarged SL and E coupé models. No CL, no Coupé and a pickup truck range - is Mercedes demonstrating more emphasis on mass market motoring?
Porsche and Mercedes Continue to Fill in Lineup Gaps | Automobile Magazine
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* 2017 W222 S350d SWB AMG Line Premium Plus
* Ashford, Kent & Mons, Belgium
Sent from my Moto G using Tapatalk
 
I'm not sure that S Coupe's and Cabriolet are special enough for the price point at which they inhabit.

Mercedes make great mid to middle/high range cars. The S Class saloon is a perfect example like the one you drive, you can pick this up for half sensible money after enormous discounts even new.

The issue you have once you step into the £100K plus segment is you're starting to get close to Bentley particularly if you start looking at AMG models that can be £130K+ new.

The reality is Bentley are just superior in every respect when it comes to choice, fit, finish, quality and brand. It's why there are so few S Coupes/Cabriolets on the road. I do like them though, I think the S500 Coupe is simply lovely, would I have one over a Bentley? Never. There's the issue.
 
Many years ago, when MB's range was much more limited than it is today, the CL was their most expensive model.
 
Many years ago, when MB's range was much more limited than it is today, the CL was their most expensive model.

I had a 560SEC (used not new) and comparably back in the day they were simply a better product when compared to their peers.

MB's business model has changed since then and volume is now king. The reality of this is they are no longer a luxury car manufacturer at least not in the UK.

Mainland Europe has Designo Boutiques in some of the big dealers that allow a level of customisation not marketed here in the UK.
 
I can remember the days when people drove a Vauxhall or Ford and aspired to a BMW or Merc. Nowadays it is the other way around, with people driving Mercs or BMWs, and trading them in for something not so grandiose.

An elderly couple up the road from me replaced their B200 with a Peugeot 3008 after repeatedly taking the B200 in to Robinsons to have a fault rectified. The car was only a few years old and had only covered 15,000 miles. Turns out the car was supposed to have been recalled yet was missed. After repeatedly asking Robinsons to sort out the issue, they changed brand to another make, and haven't looked back.

Mercedes and BMW are supposed to be the pinnacle of mass produced luxury motoring, but other brands are catching up, and the quality of BMWs and Mercs are slipping. Merc used to be synonymous with over-engineering, yet there have been plenty of horror stories, especially about electrics.

This doesn't mean I don't love my Merc, but it does mean that I am aware that the build quality isn't what it once was and that anything can fail anytime.

BMW are in the same boat, in that to access the greater mass market, they have allowed quality to slip. Is this a healthy compromise between exclusivity and accessibility?
 
The trend is continuing, where one or two models where allowed to made with the cost not being number ONE on the list. The recent example to fall is the Toyota Century that has been discontinued after a long and illustrious life span. Another V12 to cease life.
 
There's talk of the new SL being a 2+2 soft top, with a hard to variant too, so this isn't a surprise really. With the SLC, C, E, S, GT and SL, there's a lot of convertibles in the range


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I just hope they get a European design team now, thing is Asian car makers want the Euro look and Euro car makers want the Asian look, seems nuts to me...
 
There's talk also of dropping the SLC , formally SLK, in the next 1or2 years according to the slk owners forum ( USA) just long enough to get an order in for one before its gone, they say.
 
The S-Coupe :fail is just a larger E-Class Coupe. The 216 CL is the last Mercedes Grand Tourer :thumb:
 
I am a big fan of the S class coupe and cabriolet

they need the full Exclusive Nappa leather to look the part.
 
The S Coupe and Cab are certainly not fails. They're widely reviewed as exceptional cars in their classes


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Compared to W126, W215 and the W216 the S-Coupe is very disappointing :eek:
 
I agree that the S coupe and cab are beautiful cars but the real money people wouldn't buy one, MB has devalued it's own brand by chasing the mass market .MB, BMW and Audi have become what Ford Vauxhall and Rover were thirty years ago, they supply company cars to leasing companies. The S class, 7 series and A8 will go the same way as the Granada Omega and 827.
It's a shame but look on any Tesco car park and then say it's not happened.
MB are even chasing after MX5 buyers by making a cheap version of the SLC, which they say will be cheaper on pcp than the Mazda ! The SLC180 !!!
 
If have to agree on the MB demographic changes. Saw a new, top spec S63 cab in a German AMG with a €240k price tag !! Beautiful as it was, for that kind of money wouldn't the majority of private buyers be going for a Bentley or Italian supercar instead?

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* 2017 W222 S350d SWB AMG Line Premium Plus
* Ashford, Kent & Mons, Belgium
Sent from my Moto G using Tapatalk
 
Saw a new, top spec S63 cab in a German AMG with a €240k price tag !! Beautiful as it was, for that kind of money wouldn't the majority of private buyers be going for a Bentley or Italian supercar instead?

Fundamentally yes, the buyer would be in a Bentley Continental GTC or Aston Martin Volante.

The issue isn't so much is the car any good? Compared to the average Mercedes the S Coupe/Cabriolet is lovely, but compared to other brands at the same price point, the fit and finish are just not good enough and the choice of specification, colour, interior, options is woeful in the UK.

The word "woeful" being taken in context when considering you're parting with a lot over £100K for a car.

It's not that MB are no longer any good at making luxury cars, it's just the competition has got better at it and MB are being left behind or are simply reducing focus on the top end whilst chasing volume.
 
Fundamentally yes, the buyer would be in a Bentley Continental GTC or Aston Martin Volante.



The issue isn't so much is the car any good? Compared to the average Mercedes the S Coupe/Cabriolet is lovely, but compared to other brands at the same price point, the fit and finish are just not good enough and the choice of specification, colour, interior, options is woeful in the UK.



The word "woeful" being taken in context when considering you're parting with a lot over £100K for a car.



It's not that MB are no longer any good at making luxury cars, it's just the competition has got better at it and MB are being left behind or are simply reducing focus on the top end whilst chasing volume.



I completely disagree. I had someone change from a GTC to an S63 Cab recently and he was blown away by the drive and the technology available. He said that the Bentley felt so dated compared. If Mercedes created a separate brand for this type of car, would you be saying the same? That's essentially what a Bentley is now, it's underpinned with VAG group technology, covered with the traditional Bentley image


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I completely disagree. I had someone change from a GTC to an S63 Cab recently and he was blown away by the drive and the technology available. He said that the Bentley felt so dated compared. If Mercedes created a separate brand for this type of car, would you be saying the same? That's essentially what a Bentley is now, it's underpinned with VAG group technology, covered with the traditional Bentley image


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Creating a separate brand is probably not a bad idea. In fact it's what AMG should have been. IMO it was a mistake rolling AMG into every production car in the line up. MB took something quite special stripped it down to a logo and plastered it on every car in the range.

MB tried luxury with Maybach, it was a flop.

As you've pointed out VW group have Bentley at the luxury end, Lambourghini for supercars, Audi competes with MB's entire mainstream product range, AMG's included.

So this leaves Bentley's for luxury, Lambo's for supercars, Bugatti for hypercars, Porsche for roll neck wearing retired architects who like to speculate on limited edition runs ;) and skoda for tree huggers.

The 65 AMG series is MB's top of the line luxobarge and they weigh in at £175-£200K list. How many do they actually sell? I mean really sell when you remove the pre registration demo cars. Then compare this to how many Aston Martins or Bentley's sell in the same price bracket in the same time period.

At this end of the market it's all about image.

Bentley Flying Spur or Mercedes S65L AMG? Which has more curbside appeal to the man with £200k burning a hole in his pocket?

The Mercedes-Benz 600 (Grosser) was the best car in the world when it was built in the 60's and onwards, by a country mile. There was nothing like it. Which MB carries that mantle now?
 
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At this end of the market it's all about image.

Bentley Flying Spur or Mercedes S65L AMG? Which has more curbside appeal to the man with £200k burning a hole in his pocket?

The Mercedes-Benz 600 (Grosser) was the best car in the world when it was built in the 60's and onwards, by a country mile. There was nothing like it. Which MB carries that mantle now?
That's rhetorical, right? The Maybach custom shop, maybe, but it's still basically a W222.

The W222 is a wonderful sedan car, so capable, but it's no Rolls Royce. MB is ahead, not in the luxury (top end) market, but it is in the "executive" market, which seems hugely dependent on company car and non-cash purchases.

As a newcomer to the brand, with so much discussion of new cars on this forum being AMG models, its leading me to think like others on this thread that Mercedes is fashioning its future on mass market "luxury" performance cars, rather than exclusive high performance luxury cars, like the Grosser.

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* 2017 W222 S350d SWB AMG Line Premium Plus
* Ashford, Kent & Mons, Belgium
Sent from my Moto G using Tapatalk
 

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