21st Century 4 Door Convertible: Mercedes Getting In On The Action?
06-23-2006, 03:05 AM
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21st Century 4 Door Convertible: Mercedes Getting In On The Action? http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/06/sclasscabrio.png
With the aftermarket hacking away at the roofs of Chrysler's LX cars (have you seen the number of 300 and Charger convertibles at Sebring this year) and Chrylser mulling the possibility of doing one for the next gen LY cars (I doubt it will happend with the LX cars as Chrysler has just greenlighted the 300 LWB and will mostly likely greenlight the Challenger which will both suck up production resources) Chrysler has again shook up the auto industry but interesting people in 4 door convertibles. Well it appears that Chrysler's other half Mercedes may be mulling the idea of an S-Class Convertible based on the recently introduced W221 platform. What's interesting is that if these rumors are true Mercedes is going all out by basing this thing on the S-Class. They could just do a more contemporary 2 door CL Convertible or heck even a convertible on the midsize E-Class based 4 door CLS but instead they're apparently thinking about going all out and doing a FULL fullsize convertible. We'll see if the rumors are true.
Personally If they really want a 4 door ragtop, I'd go with a 4 door CLS provided it's mechanically feasible. It would justify keeping the car around if sales began to slide in a year or two. I know the CLS is currently selling pretty well but the execs from Stuttgart have to wonder if it's just early demand or if people really do want a sleeker looking alternative to a run in the mill E-Class for some 10 grand more. Building a convertible version would be a good way to bolster sales. The S-Class will always sell whether or not they do a convertible version. Might as well build a ragtop version of a model that would benefit from the sales. Not to mention you keep from shooting yourself in the foot by potentially competing with Maybach. If DC does decide to build a Mayback Convertible of some sort no doubt an S-Class vert might steal some sales. Yes it would be like a third the price but the W221 is looking an awful like the current Maybach 57 and 62. Damn I'm smart.
On a side note, these guys might be completely wrong and Merc may be doing a Maybach 4 door vert instead. If you ask me this would be a good idea since Maybach sales have been waning in recent years and there are virtually no uberexpensive 4 door verts on the market. Rappers would eat this up in no time.
With the aftermarket hacking away at the roofs of Chrysler's LX cars (have you seen the number of 300 and Charger convertibles at Sebring this year) and Chrylser mulling the possibility of doing one for the next gen LY cars (I doubt it will happend with the LX cars as Chrysler has just greenlighted the 300 LWB and will mostly likely greenlight the Challenger which will both suck up production resources) Chrysler has again shook up the auto industry but interesting people in 4 door convertibles. Well it appears that Chrysler's other half Mercedes may be mulling the idea of an S-Class Convertible based on the recently introduced W221 platform. What's interesting is that if these rumors are true Mercedes is going all out by basing this thing on the S-Class. They could just do a more contemporary 2 door CL Convertible or heck even a convertible on the midsize E-Class based 4 door CLS but instead they're apparently thinking about going all out and doing a FULL fullsize convertible. We'll see if the rumors are true.
Personally If they really want a 4 door ragtop, I'd go with a 4 door CLS provided it's mechanically feasible. It would justify keeping the car around if sales began to slide in a year or two. I know the CLS is currently selling pretty well but the execs from Stuttgart have to wonder if it's just early demand or if people really do want a sleeker looking alternative to a run in the mill E-Class for some 10 grand more. Building a convertible version would be a good way to bolster sales. The S-Class will always sell whether or not they do a convertible version. Might as well build a ragtop version of a model that would benefit from the sales. Not to mention you keep from shooting yourself in the foot by potentially competing with Maybach. If DC does decide to build a Mayback Convertible of some sort no doubt an S-Class vert might steal some sales. Yes it would be like a third the price but the W221 is looking an awful like the current Maybach 57 and 62. Damn I'm smart.
On a side note, these guys might be completely wrong and Merc may be doing a Maybach 4 door vert instead. If you ask me this would be a good idea since Maybach sales have been waning in recent years and there are virtually no uberexpensive 4 door verts on the market. Rappers would eat this up in no time.
