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How hot is this! Mercedes drops a bomb on all the luxury car companies!


Innovative All-Wheel-Drive System (4Matic) Included At No Additional Cost

Auto Spies perspective: How COOL is this! 4matic on ALL 2005 S430's and S500's at NO EXTRA CHARGE! Remember though, you must request the 4matic option.

What a great marketing move! In one fell swoop Mercedes drops a bomb on the ENTIRE luxury car market.

When all the other competitors are done soiling themselves after hearing this announcement, we wonder what the implications will be in this hotly contested market.

001 prognosticates...

Audi- This can't be good for them. Or is it? Are they legitimized?

Lexus- Caught napping here...The hibernation ends with the 07 model year vehicles

BMW- No 7-series AWD version even on the horizon...or is it? 745xli?

Infiniti- Still reeling at the high end from the Q45 'rocks and stones' debacle. Serenity now! Serenity now! AWD a guarantee for next generation cars

Cadillac- Good first step with STS AWD model...will they have to offer it free because of MB's bold move?

Jaguar- Marketing plan strategy-Currently developing the 'Village people' versions of their product line in advance of the HUGE upcoming chapter 11 party

What it means for the future?

Our prediction is the next S-class will have AWD standard, forcing all the others to follow suit.

Official release from internal MB memo:

Lauded by many critics as "the best car in the world," the Mercedes-Benz S-Class enters the 2005 model year with a confidence of continued excellence. This year the innovative all-wheel-drive system, 4MATIC, is offered at no additional cost on the S430 and S500 luxury sedans. Introduced in November 2002, 4MATIC equipped models accounted for over 30% of model year 2004 S-Class sales.

This exceptional value is offered in response to the overwhelming acceptance of all-wheel-drive in the S-Class family of vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz 4MATIC is a full-time all-wheel-drive system that uses a 40/60 front/rear torque split through a planetary center differential and requires no driver intervention. Advanced four-wheel electronic traction control is
used to vary torque distribution to individual wheels under slippery conditions. Even if three wheels lose traction, 4MATIC can direct power to
just one wheel, front or back, left or right, to keep the car moving. The system is lightweight (under 200 pounds) and compact, so passenger and cargo spaces are virtually unaffected.

The S430 sedan uses a 275-horsepower, 4.3-liter V8, while the S500 is powered by a 302-horsepower, 5.0-liter V8. Both S430 and S500 come fully equipped with Airmatic air suspension systems with adaptive damping, DVD-based GPS navigation, the Tele Aid telematics system, premium leather upholstery with heated front seats, 12-speaker premium Bose sound system with digital surround sound, ESP stability program and sunroof.



Comments:

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mbnas55mbnas55 - 8/26/2004 10:46:10 PM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
The best just better while others fall behind both in styling and engineering.

As Chrysler would say "Lead, follow or get out of the way".

reply to this comment
993Turbo993Turbo - 8/27/2004 3:02:51 AM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Since Mercedes is dropping their all inclusive service warrenty, Mercedes customers will need every penny saved on 4 Matic and then some just to maintain the electrical nightmare.

Audi has always offered quattro for a good price ($1,500) and A8 is $20,000 less that S500. It's a no brainer.

reply to this comment
BobWBobW - 8/27/2004 2:03:27 PM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Strictly a marketing ploy as the S approaches its build-out prior to the new model. If M-B really wants to drop a bomb they would start building reliable cars. That said, after five years of ongoing development (with owners and dealers as the development team), the S has become almost acceptably reliable. Maybe with one or two additional years of development they'll be decent cars by the time they quit building them.
BW

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