In today's Sunday Times -- UK's leading quality Sunday paper with a big motoring section including pages & pages of 'for sale' adverts -- there's a quarter-page advert from the Maybach dealer (sorry, "Maybach Centre of Excellence) in London offering second-hand and ex-demo models.
1) Slow sales? 2) Who's going to buy used?DAS
Definitely!!
THAT is a serious problem as those people who can really afford one will not buy used, not at a price being 75 per cent (or sth. like that) of the new car prize - once the Maybachs are below 150.000 Euro it's another story.
Juergen
"Juergen ." haute in die Tasten:
They really seem to be in trouble. Before DC introduced the Maybach, they made quite some PR noise, and I remembered that DC had plans to buy back used Maybachs in order to keep them away from the market of fast depreciating luxury cars. If you think about the fact that you can easily buy a 1992 Mercedes S600L for 10.000 Euros, one can imagine how long it would take until the first cheap Maybachs would be available.
Frank
Exactly! And I still remember the situation with the W100 600 cars which could be had _extremely_ cheap in the 1980s and so quite a number went into the hands of butchers (yes, those people who sell meat), wrecked-car dealers, red-light guys etc. pp.
The only advantage of the Maybachs is that they are still very new and so still cost a lot of money - this will prevent them for the next couple of years to get into the same hands as the above mentioned W100s, but once they get under 50.000 Euros... ===:-(((
Juergen Just saw today a W126 420 SEC - all prejudices met, from lowered body and ultra-wide el cheapo alloys to _sports_ exhaust and darkened windows... ==:-((
Juergen
Wow, what elitist comments. I guess you think your too good to drive the same car as a butcher or a "wrecked car dealer"
I know this is a mercedes group, maybe I shouldn't be surprised to find snotty small minded comments, but still...
Marty
Butchers' car is a translation of Metzgerauto, which I have heard from somebody else in Germany. Its main meaning is that it's very common, i.e. lots of people have it, no exclusivity etc.
DAS
That has nothing to do with _elite_ comments, but is a description of things happened in the past to the (so-to-speak) _Maybach-Predecessor_ W100.
Ok, you've told us about your prejudices - do you feel better now?
Juergen - whipping his 9 chauffeurs so they hurry up to polish the three golden Maybach 88 (yes, 88, special version, 62 is for the not-so-rich-only)
Martin Joseph haute in die Tasten:
Juergen did not say anything in that way. We were discussing the chances for the brand Maybach to become successful, nothing more. Currently they seem to lack success and miss their prospected sales figures. IMHO a Maybach does not feature much more performance than an S-clas, but it is way more expensive. In order to sell such a car successfully, you will have to sell things like "Image" "Status" "Elite" to the prospective buyers, because for all the other things you can also buy an S-class for one third of the money. If new Maybachs for 500.000 bucks should get into a competition with used Maybachs for 100.000 bucks and new S-classes for
150.000 bucks, then I think there will be hard times for them in the future.Let's take the Mercedes W140 S600CL. 10 years ago it was the most expensive car in the Mercedes range, the car for the rich and famous. Today everyone can buy one for 10 grand. In Germany this has lead to the situation that most current users of this car are unpleasant guys like pimps, small drug dealers and such. A car maker cannot ignore such a situation, espeually when he tries to establsh a new high-profile brand.
Frank
"Dori A Schmetterling" haute in die Tasten:
Well, there is a different meaning with "Metzgerauto". People who earn their money with parting out cute litte animals and sell their flesh, are regarded as taste- and style-less. Somebody who looks like a butcher, may not get access to a cool night club etc. These guys are regarded to have some money, but absolutely no style. So the conclusion is, that cars with lots of style (e.g. the Mercedes 600 W100) lose their style once they get into the hands of style-less persons...
Frank
"Juergen ." haute in die Tasten:
Are you crazy to whip your chauffeurs? I always treat mine very gently in order to maintain their fullest mental health - and a soft, calm ride. The ones I beat on a regular basis are the ucraininan slaves I bought for the polishing job, these lazy slobs!
Frank
I note the correction...
Thx.
An ex-colleague of mine (in Germany) justified his purchase of a (company) Citroen by declaring Mercs to be very common and Metzgerautos... (I had a Merc and asked him why did not get one when they were so relatively cheap.)
DAS
I thought I was being funny discussinng elitism in a Maybach thread... Of course this car is target at people with too much money and mental problems, and probably very small penises...
I'm quite sure this isn't true at all. It's a ridiculous characterization in fact.
This is Elitism at it purest of course.
The rich with mental problems and small penises are pissed off that the butchers with small penises are buying the same cars as them...
Whatever the truth might be, image is all with such expensive cars, and if a Maybach gets a bad image you can kiss good-bye even to its current low sales.
DAS
The lower-powered versions of MB diesels here in Germany are often called _Bauerndiesel_ (farmer's diesel).
And walk around a cattle market - lots of W210 and W211 220D (etc.) with Agrarhaken = agricultural hook = trailer hitch.
What always surprises me is that only very few of them are the more practical station wagons T-models), but nearly all are saloons/sedans.
Juergen - being no farmer but driving a Bauerndiesel, a W123 240D saloon/sedan
Exactly!
As explained as a response to a posting from Dori I drive a _Bauerndiesel_ (farmer's diesel), that is a classification which is just the opposite of _elite_. Oh, and YES, I can easily live with that...
They miss them _by far_ - and personally I fear things will get worse in the future as (most?) basic requests like fleet cars for luxury hotels already are sold.
Price-wise an S-Class is _much_ better than a Maybach.
Yes. And the things you mentioned (image, status etc.) today are important even with small cars - and so much more with luxury vehicles like Maybachs.
I wonder when the first Maybachs will come down in price to that level.
I don't know if it is really _most_ - but definitely it is way too many of those people driving them.
Definitely!
Juergen
see bottom
You live in the US - Frank and I live in Germany and here it is still _plenty_ of such cars driving around, with way too many people Frank characterized behind the wheels.
No - it is _the_ way to sell vehicles like the Maybach.
You seem to have a problem with penises??
Juergen
"Juergen ." haute in die Tasten:
The large number of Diesel Mercedes driven by farmers in Germany has its historical roots in the taxation of diesel fuel for agricultural use. In former times (I do not know the current situation) farmers received large financial aids for running their machinery and vehicles. They had special license plates showing a reduced tax on tractors and such, and AFAIK they paid close to no tax for their diesel fuel. Most farmers have an own fuel depot of several hundred gallons to fill up their machinery. A diesel Mercedes fits very well in this enviroment;-)
Frank
This just confirms that the MLs, Jeeps etc of this world are made for the urban farmers to carry their hay to KaDeWe, Harrods or Bloomingdale's.
DAS
True it's a purely elitist product. Much like a high end mercedes.
Not usually :~)
Sorry about yours...
Marty
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