With Luxury On The Run, Mercedes Stresses Safety

Posted by Abe Sauer on October 19, 2009 05:06 PM

Though the Dow's back over 10,000, and record bonuses are again expected on Wall Street, luxury is still declining. So what's an ostensibly luxury auto brand like Mercedes Benz to do?

Though it seems the iconic German brand had a better than expected third quarter, word is that Mercedes will soon start to stress its autos' new safety technologies over their poshness. Mercedes' VP of US marketing Steve Cannon tells Automotive News, "You have to give people the justification that says, 'Yes, a Mercedes-Benz is relevant to me -- it can save my life.'"

It's a smart move for a number of reasons. Downplaying luxury in favor of other benefits is more in line with what the brand's competitors are doing. For instance, BMW and Audi are both focusing on the respective "green" fuel benefits of their offerings.

More importantly, the Mercedes brand is so intertwined with “luxury” that even if it isn't stressed, it's implicit -- at least for a few more years until The Emergency is over and everyone can get back to putting the latest S-Class model on a low-interest-introductory-rate credit card.

A word of warning though: When Mercedes does finally roll out a fresh branding campaign stressing safety, sometime in 2010, it better be less abstruse than the "Angels" thing the brand recently used (above). That abstract stuff may fly with erudite Germans; but in America we like to see things go smash and then be told how many stars it got somewhere.

More about: Mercedes, Automotive, Advertising, Audi, BMW, Luxury

Andreas Duess says:

Here in Canada Mercedes reported a 21.8% increase in sales for September 2009. BMW and Audi too are consistently doing well, so I wouldn't call for an end of the luxury car brand just yet.

The car that seems to be everywhere is the B-Class, Mercedes city car.

October 20, 2009 06:41 AM #

Abes Sauer says:

Mercedes numbers have been up a number of places. But their trucks division is getting hit, which is the reason the brand's overall bottom line isn't reflecting the solid sedan sales. And still, they need to at least not pound away at the luxury point for a little while. Everyone knows Mercedes is luxury.

October 20, 2009 09:30 AM #

Home Security Systems says:

After the investment made in purchasing a Mercedes, not only was I concerned with the safety of the vehicle itself but also felt I needed to protect my investment from theft so we also purchased a new home security system. I don't mind paying extra for more security. Keep improving!

November 2, 2009 07:38 PM #

Mercedes Benz Parts says:

Luxury car or not, the utmost concern of a car owner and the passenger is car safety. This is a good move of Mercedes. Car manufacturers should spend more time and effort in providing good technology for safety while not sacrificing its status

November 26, 2009 10:08 AM #

cheap replica handbags says:

2222 Mercedes numbers have been up a number of places. But their trucks division is getting hit, which is the reason the brand's overall bottom line isn't reflecting the solid sedan sales. And still, they need to at least not pound away at the luxury point for a little while. Everyone knows Mercedes is luxury.

April 13, 2010 12:45 AM #