Mercedes Receives 10,000 Orders for New GLK-Class in Western Europe

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That is one of the most gruesome looking cars I have ever seen!

Unbelievebly ugly!
You have to look at the GLK with reference to the G Wagon, if you compare them you'll who the parents were right there! No-one ever accused the G Wagon of being pretty but it gets the job done regardless!
Same happened with the new C class and yet now I think all would agree it is a very distinctive shape. I think the GLK will look great in the flesh. If it does 40+ mpg with the new diesel engine I shall be very tempted.
Only being offered in LHD will probably put a potato in your tailpipe.
 
I think Mercedes' range is far too large with silly niche cars like the B-Class and R-Class.

Too many cars in the range, cheapens the corporate image in my view. It also makes Mercs more common so that residual values are lower. I say cut back the range to the "core" products (C Class, S Class, E Class etc.)
 
Is that MB's answer to the BMW X3?

Certainly in the US that's one of its main competitors, as well as Freelander 2 (called LR2 in the US), and the forthcoming Audi Q5.
 
If that had a Hyundai badge on the front I would not have blinked twice.

Like the BMW X3, if you stick a premium badge on front of an average car any fool will buy it.


I don't suppose BMW care who they take money from though - they've been clearing well in excess of 100,000 X3s a year since launch.

So Merc still need to shift a few yet
 
I like it, my wife currently has an 05 Honda CRV, when it comes time to replace it, if it ever comes to the UK, it will be high on the list of potential replacements.

The Honda has honestly been a bit of a disappointment, reliability has not been of the legendary Honda variety, and the fuel consumption at motorway speeds is poor for its class.
 
... if it ever comes to the UK, ...

From Autocar

The new mid-sized SUV sits on modified underpinnings from the company’s C-class 4Matic, and just like that car, the GLK has not been engineered for right hand drive and will not be sold in the UK. At least, not until 2011 when the German car maker says it plans to launch a right-hand drive version following what officials describe as “a major modification to the four-wheel drive system and a repositioning of the steering rack”.
 
I think Mercedes' range is far too large with silly niche cars like the B-Class and R-Class.

Too many cars in the range, cheapens the corporate image in my view. It also makes Mercs more common so that residual values are lower. I say cut back the range to the "core" products (C Class, S Class, E Class etc.)
If they took your advice they would go bankrupt. Saloons are a dying breed. Now only 13% of car sales. And large saloons are proving even harder to sell. Economies of scale in car production are huge. So BMW and Mercedes do all they can to widen their range of cars. Hatchbacks and 4x4's are now huge business and no major player can afford to stay out of such large markets.

The GLK has the looks and the pedigree to take on the X3, the CRV, the Freelander, the Rav4, the Nissan Xtrail, the Audi and so on. Big market if you add up all those sales.

Over a million A's and nearly 400,000 B's are not sales anyone would wish to lose either. And by 2012 emissions must be down to an AVERAGE of 120 across the range. Smaller cars are the future, like it or not.
 
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Colonel Benz in the garage with the tyre iron.
 

I am certain that once the Americans realise they are still paying less for fuel than everyone else they will order these cars too.

People coming off lease in the USA simply can not sell their really large fuel guzzlers. So the car companies have suspended leases. Those leases are really cheap and more or less drive the car market in the USA.

Isn't it time the USA went diesel ?

I was looking at a report that Honda USA in 2007 announced that it can do 68MPG on diesel, putting the hybrids to shame. Funny how that information gets filed under 'not petrol'.
 
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I am certain that once the Americans realise they are still paying less for fuel than everyone else they will order these cars too.

In practice they're not really - I know you're in Oz, but comparing UK to USA, a $ in the US is the "same" (living standards etc wise) as a £ in the UK. So petrol feels like it costs pretty well the same in the US as it does in the UK.
What makes it worse for Americans is that they do a lot more miles and they're doing them in cars that are generally a lot less economical, so they're actually, in real money, spending more on fuel than people in the UK

Isn't it time the USA went diesel ?

I was looking at a report that Honda USA in 2007 announced that it can do 68MPG on diesel, putting the hybrids to shame. Funny how that information gets filed under 'not petrol'.

I thinks it's illegal to sell diesel cars in some states (noteably California and NY). There are real issues with diesel pollution.
 
I read MB bluetec is legal in all states.

I've lost track of this a bit, but I don't think they actually are technically legal in California and the other affected states.

When the Bluetec cars were launched MB got a waiver that allowed the cars to be *leased* in California but they can't be resold there.
 
Give him time. There is nothing surprising me in that article. I got hammered px time for my gas guzzler and I paid quite little for it compared to a diesel model.

Yes. I think anything that does less than 35-40mpg average now is subject to a sharp intake of breath if you try to PX. I expect even my 2004 W203 with many bells and whistles has been hit more than most. I doubt whether I would get any more than £8K offered if I tried to PX it against something like a year old W204. Thats about half what I paid for it just over a year ago. :eek:
 

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