MERCEDES-BENZ FOR THE MASSES

Now we know why Mercedes-Benz wasn’t happy with the ‘Engineered Like No Other Car in the World,’ theme that preceeded Scali, McCabe, Sloves’ ‘Sacrifice Nothing’ campaign. Deputy chairman of Mercedes-Benz AG Helmut Werner recently called the company’s S-class cars, which have disappointed in the sales department, ‘over-engineered.’ The poor showing of the big, expensive sedans contibuted to arch-rival BMW passing M-B in worldwide sales. Analysts and dealers said Mercedes has not addressed ‘value’ in its product offerings, and is in danger of becoming too far out of reach to too many car buyers.