Mercedes Announces New Convertibles, Brand Growth
Mercedes North American boss Steve Cannon announced that it will offer both C- and S-Class convertibles to U.S. buyers in the near future.
Despite already offering 19 models in the U.S. market, Cannon says there will be another 11 coming soon as part of a pitch by the brand to improve Millennial appeal. While that’s not necessarily news — Mercedes announced that the A-Class would see North American sale in Geneva — Cannon’s announcement carried new nuggets of information, not the least of which was the convertible C-Class.
Mercedes will also have a stronger stance to snag younger customers by offering a more affordable convertible. Currently, it’s cheapest ragtop option is the E-Class, which starts around $50,000. BMW can already woo buyers with a convertible 3 Series or even 1 Series for those that don’t mind the smaller car.
There will also be stretched and convertible versions of the brand’s flagship S-Class, although this car obviously won’t be aimed at younger buyers. What will be, on the other hand, will be the CLA, set for U.S. sale in 2013 along with a refreshed E-Class.
But bloating its lineup with 11 more cars might have the opposite effect of what the brand expects. While Mercedes fervently tries to compete with other luxury brands, it could risk cannibalizing sales from current customers.
Cannon doesn’t think that will be a problem and he could be right considering at least a chunk of the new products will appeal to buyers that aren’t likely to look at buying a Mercedes now.
GALLERY: Mercedes-Benz A-Class
[Source: USA Today]
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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