Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz has been quite insecure over BMW AG's record profit figures and plans to further diversify its luxury cars line-up. In the wake of the staggering success that has come the BMW's way, Mercedes has mulled upon adding variations to its flagship S-class model after revising the same. The move has been made to lead the segment and thereby become the highest profit earner. The automaker has also held discussions over the launch of the convertible version of its CL coupe model.
The luxury brands BMW and Volkswagen AG's Audi have had a growth rate that was almost five times higher than that of Mercedes. The leading luxury brands have constantly remained active in the car market by offering innovative models. The 125-year-old manufacturer, Mercedes, gave away the title of leader in luxury-car sales to BMW in 2005 and lagged behind while competing with Audi too, this year. As a result, it has tumbled down to the third spot in terms of profitability.
Joachim Schmidt, Head of Sales and Marketing at Mercedes, was quoted as saying, "We don't plan to grow just in premium compact cars. We also have ideas about new products for the high end. Mercedes wants to provide its customers 'the best or nothing' and we also have to live up to that, in terms of our performance against competitors. That goes for volume as well."
Stefan Bratzel, Director of the Centre of Automotive Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, said that, "Mercedes made the mistake of riding its established customers too long. Mercedes needs to go on the attack because BMW and Audi have been more dynamic. Otherwise, they risk being left behind."
It is not that Mercedes was facing the crisis throughout. The company has been the leader of the luxury-car market for many years. Last year, the 'not in the best of forms' carmaker sold-off 80,000 vehicles produced within the S-Class, including the CL coupe and SL roadster. The enthralling performance resulted in Mercedes gaining the first position, beating the 7-series of BMW and Audi's A8. However, the current time is a tough test for the company, which has to wait to see how things unfold in the future.
