Category Archive:
Posted by George Peterson on May 21, 2013 at 2:38 pm
Mercedes-Benz premiered its all new S-Class sedan in Hamburg on May 15, 2013. Held at the Airbus factory where final assembly of the Airbus A320 and A380 is occurring, Mercedes took advantage of an over-the-top venue for an over-the-top introduction to their new Flagship. While an introduction like this should showcase the car (which it did), the showmanship used by Mercedes in this occasion was second to none. A very official looking YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U94OftPwcAc) shows the event up to just before Deiter Zetsche announced Alicia Keys who was sitting in the back of the center stage S-Class. They probably were prevented from showing her performance for contract reasons, but it was pretty darn good. She even worked very well with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra that was playing original compositions prior to her arrival.
Prior to the show was the typical hyperbole about how great the car is (While the A380 is the “Queen of the Sky”, the S-Class is the “Queen of the Road”), it was obvious the presenter was stalling. The presentation was in German, but clearly something was going on. Taking off the earphones provided for translations, you could hear the rain pounding on the roof and claps of nearby thunder. According to people on the support team, they were working on alternative approaches to the presentation minute-by-minute. In the final analysis, they chose the right approach. Mercedes kept it as natural as they could.
Some things to look for in the Premiere… the curtain came up with an Airbus A380 in the background and a Mercedes SLS gullwing in the foreground. It was pouring down rain and the thunder storm had just subsided a bit. Standing next to the SLS was The Stig from BBC’s Top Gear. The Stig stepped into the SLS with practiced flexibility, shut the gullwing door and spun a donut in the water. He drove towards the A380 as the Mercedes lineup all in white lined up to provide a corridor for the new S-Class to approach the stage. Still raining, two S-Class sedans parked on the stage dripping wet. Hats off to Mercedes for not having the cars immediately wiped off as most car companies would have. Very classy!
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Posted by Ty Michael on May 15, 2013 at 3:05 pm
USA sale of the 2014 Mercedes Sprinter will begin on September 1, 2013 via 218 dealers in the USA. 161 are Mercedes Benz dealers and the remainder is Freightliner dealers. About 80% of the 20,969 Sprinters sold in the USA in 2012 were Mercedes. The only difference between the Mercedes and Freightliner is the grille texture and badging. Prices are the same.
What is new for 2014? Front-end sheetmetal is the big news. A fresh pedestrian-friendly snout has been styled that is more Mercedes-like, but also more SUV-like. The grille opening is more aggressive. The headlamps are more stylish and more contemporary. The whole front end goes better with the new Mercedes family style.
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Posted by George Peterson on March 25, 2013 at 12:17 pm
Almost There – IS350 F-Sport Nears 335i Performance Feel The all new 3rd Generation Lexus IS is a near luxury sport sedan to be launched during June 2013 as a 2014 model year entry (the 2013 IS C hardtop convertible based on the 2nd Gen IS continues for another year selling along side the 4-door sedan) . The major question is whether it is ready to take on the Germans in its class. To answer that question, Lexus served up three IS350 F-Sports, a BMW 335i and Mercedes C350 and a nice little track outside Austin, Texas – Driveway Austin Motorsports. You could drive each car for two laps per outing as many times as you wanted or time allowed. The conclusion is that the BMW retains the Ultimate Driving Machine crown, the IS350 F-Sport is very, very civilized and competitive, and the C350 approaches land barge category. The 335i is very sporty, very precise and tuned for performance. The IS achieves its competitive position only when you opt for the IS350 with the F-Sport package giving the car upgraded suspension and steering. The more mundane IS models – IS250 and IS350 – are softer and more tuned to the casual driver. But, the F-Sport is a gas to drive. Unfortunately, an Audi A4 was not available for the track exercise. It would have provided an interesting comparison.
So, with the excitement of the track experience out of the way, we were able to drive the IS on the great Texas Hill Country roads around the area.
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Posted by George Peterson on January 14, 2013 at 2:39 pm
We began this year with a string of new high performance Audi sedans – S6, S7 and S8. We have not gotten to the S8 yet, but the S6 and S7 are pretty similar cars so lets concentrate on the S7 fastback. Think of the A7/S7 as Audi’s answer to the Mercedes CLS and the BMW 6-Series Grand Coupe. The S7 is a four-door coupe with a very fast backlite and large rear hatch. Opening the rear hatch reveals a huge rear cargo area. While the S7 has a very sporty profile, its design has sacrificed ingress/egress in the front and especially rear seats. The style limits rear seat headroom and the legroom in the rear is also down a bit from the three box S6 sedan.
Interior Par for the course, the S7′s sport interior is special with great attention to detail, great fit and finish and a very upscale ambiance.
No Fingerprints, Please Audi ‘s multi media interface (MMI) continues with controls on the center console not a touchscreen. The Audi MMI is easy to use and somewhat intuitive once you have used it a few times, but it would fail the rental car test (unfamiliar car in a rental car lot at midnight in the driving rain). Unlike its brethren Volkswagen and Porsche that now use touchscreens, Audi has stayed away from them because fingerprints on the screen are unsightly.
Get the Comfort Seat Package In the S7, the black and lunar silver interior is tasteful, but the seat bolsters are too aggressive for casual driving. At this price, the seats in the S7 should have power adjustable cushion and back bolsters so you can have either a very supportive seat that you fit snugly in or a wide open seat that lets you move around however you want to. Sure the “S cars” are sport performance models, but at $94,570 for the S7, there should be loads of comfort as well. Recognizing this, Audi offers a comfort seat option for $1,950 that provide heating, cooling, massage and memory functions. Unfortunately, the comfort seats are available only in black Valcona leather not the silver/white leather in the evaluation S7.
Featherlight Toe on the Accelerator But the sport seats weren’t the only thing that presented a problem. The S-Cars are powered by a 420-horsepower 4.0L V8 with twin turbochargers and cylinder on demand. Mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission and Audi’s great Quattro all wheel drive system, this car should be a real pleasure to drive. Lots of horsepower and torque. Effortless V8 with turbos! Wow. But it isn’t a pleasure to drive. Tip-in the accelerator and there is a hesitation that makes you shy about merging into traffic from a stop unless you stomp on it. Maybe it’s the performance setting in the MMI? Comfort? The same. Auto? The same. Dynamic? The same… even worse. Once you get the S7 rolling, it is delightful. The throaty rumble of the engine is joyous. But getting up to speed takes a featherlight touch of the toe to do smoothly.
So, the S7 is really for a person who wants upscale coupe styling and a lot of power. It’s not for a person who needs to provide rear seat space or comfort. The S7 is a car that turns heads and likes to be driven at speed, but it is a touchy low speed cruiser.
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Posted by George Peterson on October 31, 2012 at 1:44 pm
An automotive industry truism is that it is easier to satisfy your grandmother than a young man. Is this true? At least the gender portion of the statement is accurate.
Driver satisfaction is a critical measure of vehicle acceptance. Having a satisfied buyer results in better loyalty, better word-of-mouth, stronger image. Satisfaction is a central building block of a brand. AutoPacific has been measuring driver satisfaction since 1993 and it is always instructive to look at the differences between women and men drivers.
In AutoPacific’s annual 2012 Vehicle Satisfaction research, women drivers score 39 rating points higher than men – 674 over 635 in their overall Vehicle Satisfaction score.
Cadillac Tops Satisfaction Among Women While the top four brands in the satisfaction hierarchy are the same – Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Lincoln – the scores given them by women are much higher. Cadillac up 50 rating points. Mercedes up 16 rating points. Lexus up 41 rating points. Lincoln up 42 rating points. Interestingly, the rating for Fiat – perhaps the ultimate chick’s car – is at the bottom of the list among women but still higher by 29 rating points than among men.
Infiniti FX - Top in Satisfaction Among Women
Models With Touches of Luxury Score Better With Women In terms of individual vehicles the top twelve satisfying vehicles among women are: Infiniti FX at 774 (+94 rating points higher than men), Chrysler 300 at 767 (+89 rating points), Lexus ES at 742 (+40), Cadillac SRX (+48), Mercedes C-Class at 735 (+50), Buick Enclave (+57), Honda Crosstour at 729 (+73), Lincoln MKS at 728 (+50), Range Rover Evoque at 728 (+43), Lincoln MKX at 726 (+58), Honda Odyssey at 725 (+40), Lexus RX at 725 (+43). The lowest vehicle line among women is the Nissan LEAF at 550 rating points. The highest scoring vehicle among men is the Mercedes-Benz ML practically tied with the Cadillac Escalade. The lowest vehicle line among men is the Mazda2 at 502.
Women are More Satisfied With a Comfortable Stuff Hauler Women are much more satisfied with Fuel Economy (+8.3%pts), Warranty (+6.9%pts), Collision Avoidance Technology (+6.9%pts), 3rd Row Seat Comfort (+6.8%pts), 2nd Row Seat Comfort (+6.3%pts), Flexible/Changeable Seating (+6.5%pts), Rear Seat Entertainment System (+6.4%pts), Roof Rack (+6.0%pts), Price/Monthly Payments (+6.0%pts), Convertible Top (+6.0%pts). Many of these attributes are characteristics of vehicle types very popular with women drivers like Sport Utility Vehicles and Minivans. They want a comfortable vehicle with a good warranty that gets good fuel economy. They want the interior to be flexible and provide entertainment for their children. They are more satisfied with an affordable stuff hauler useful with children.
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Posted by George Peterson on August 20, 2012 at 9:03 am
The Lexus Flagship – the LS460 4-door sedan – is freshened for the 2013 model year. This comes after an all new Audi A8 in 2011, a tweaked 2012 BMW 7-Series, and the new Cadillac XTS (which may not be in this class). A major change for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class is due in early 2013 as a 2014 model year. The Jaguar XJ that was all new in 2009 as a 2010 model gets a much needed all wheel drive system for 2013.
2013 Lexus LS460 F SPORT
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Posted by George Peterson on July 30, 2012 at 1:10 pm
AutoPacific’s Ideal Vehicle Award (IVA) recognizes the vehicle that best hits the target its buyers demand. Winning an IVA shows the product planners, engineers and designers of the manufacturer understand what their target customers want and have created the vehicle to best meet their demands.
S-Class Dominates Porsche Panamera for IVA Win: The 2012 Mercedes-Benz S-Class comes closest to the ideal of any vehicle – car or truck. In the Premium Luxury Car class, the S-Class out-points the second place Porsche Panamera by 72 rating points. Having eighty-percent or more of owners rating a characteristic ideal is outstanding. Getting a score of ninety-percent is even more impressive. Ninety-percent or more of S-Class owners rate these characteristics ideal: exterior size, interior lighting, passenger roominess, driver’s seat comfort, ride and handling, tires and ease of getting in and out. Eighty-percent or more of S-Class owners find these additional characteristics ideal: driver’s seat visibility, cargo space, exterior styling, wheels, power and acceleration, interior storage features, safety features.
The Mercedes S-Class also won AutoPacific’s 2012 Vehicle Satisfaction Award for Best In Class Premium Luxury Car.
Infotainment System – The Only Close Miss for the 2012 S-Class: The only feature S-Class owners weren’t enthralled with was the infotainment and entertainment system. With 79% of the respondents saying the system was ideal in the S-Class, this was a close miss. About 17% of S-Class owners would like more/better infotainment technology than they have now.
You can find an Autobytel review of this IVA award winner at http://www.autobytel.com/auto-news/awards/consumer-s-ideal-cars-revealed-in-2012-iva-awards-112116/
For a complete summary of all AutoPacific 2012 Ideal Vehicle Award results contact karin.turner@vehiclevoice.com and title your email “IVA Results”. A copy of the results will be emailed to you within 48-hours.
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Posted by George Peterson on July 23, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Mercedes-Benz GL350 BlueTEC
Mercedes’ (@mbusa) top of the line SUV, the 7-passenger GL (#2013GL-Class), is new for 2013. As the top selling premium luxury sport utility vehicle, GL certainly is a healthy profit contributor to parent company Daimler AG. Built at Mercedes-Benz Tuscaloosa, Alabama assembly plant, 53% of GL production is sold in the United States. The 2013 GL is the second generation GL and continues to be derived from the platform that also underpins the 5-passenger ML. About 80% of the GL is all new for its second generation. We had a chance to drive several versions of the new GL at its global press preview in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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Posted by George Peterson on June 26, 2012 at 11:42 am
Psychographics are any attributes relating to personality, values, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles. Each year, AutoPacific includes a battery of questions in the New Vehicle Satisfaction Survey that allows us to determine what the psychographic profile of each brand and model. The results are often fascinating, or simply obvious, but confirming perceptions you might have had about a brand.
AutoPacific’s psychographic model has been developed using input from over 200,000 respondents to the New Vehicle Satisfaction Survey from 2009 through 2012. Applying this model to our latest data lets us make valuable comparisons such as for the European Luxury Brands shown below:
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Posted by George Peterson on June 10, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Best in Class 2012 Premium Luxury Car: Mercedes-Benz S-Class
2012 Mercedes-Benz Wins AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Award
The top satisfying car, and top rated Premium Luxury Car for 2011 and 2012 is the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the sedan flagship of the Mercedes lineup. The S-Class scores top of class satisfaction ratings in 33 of 48 attributes contributing to AutoPacific’s Vehicle Satisfaction Award. This is a gargantuan feat. With a possible high score of 5.0 on each characteristic, S-Class owners rated the car at 4.8 rating points or higher in Exterior Size, Ease of Getting in and Out, Seating Capacity, Image, Vehicle Reputation, Brand Reputation, Exterior Styling, Interior Styling, Braking, Handling, Ride, Quietness, Easy to Use Controls, Feeling Safe While Driving, Safety Ratings, and Overall Quality. They were least satisfied with the fuel economy of their S-Class and the price they paid for the privilege of owning such a prestigious car.
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