Mercedes is working on their own "Volt"... And...

[Sal Collaziano]

"We are in a leading position and I expect that some of our competitors have to manage earnings, innovation and complexity in a way that doesn’t apply to us."

http://www.leftlanenews.com/intervie...tric-cars.html

[big swede]

It looks like everyone is now trying to jump on board immediately trying to act like they are the innovators. How long has gasoline been over $5.00 a gallon in Germany? It appears that GM is finally leading the way instead of having to react to the market like they have for the last 20-30 years. I will give GM credit unless someone is keeping the same, or better technology awfully quite. The only proof that would prove that fact is if their product beats the Volt to market. Until then GM gets the props and everyone else is reacting to GM for a change.

[zete]

Complexity doesn't apply to Mercedes?

Give me some of that magic!

[Quickening]

Originally Posted by zete

Complexity doesn't apply to Mercedes?

Give me some of that magic!

Nice.

Mercedes can do it, but its not like they are going to come in at the same price point of the Volt.

[emh]

Originally Posted by zete

Complexity doesn't apply to Mercedes?

Give me some of that magic!

I took that as meaning the earnings-complexity tradeoff is different for Mercedes than it is for most other companies. They have a couple of advantages here in that Mercedes buyers are less price sensitive and the incremental cost of a complex drivetrain is a smaller percentage on a Mercedes than on, say, a typical Chevy or Toyota.

[mgescuro]

Originally Posted by Sal Collaziano

"We are in a leading position and I expect that some of our competitors have to manage earnings, innovation and complexity in a way that doesn’t apply to us."

http://www.leftlanenews.com/intervie...tric-cars.html

I am inclined to believe that statement wholeheartedly.
Mercedes buyers are richer, more willing to pay the "Mercedes Tax", and definitely less price sensitive.
Chances are this system would appear on the S-Class before filtering down.

[mbukukanyau]

Originally Posted by mgescuro

I am inclined to believe that statement wholeheartedly.
Mercedes buyers are richer, more willing to pay the "Mercedes Tax", and definitely less price sensitive.
Chances are this system would appear on the S-Class before filtering down.

The decision to make the Volt a chevy was very deliberate by Rick and his friend Bob.
With Volt a Chevy it will be easily a Global car, and you bet Cadillac and perhaps Buick in China will have their version very quickly.

Price point is not the issue. Mercedes is just pulling another watanabe on GM...

[ChevroletRevived]

GM's got to love this; everyone is following. For once again, GM is being a leader. That's something to be excited about!

[mgescuro]

Originally Posted by ChevroletRevived

GM's got to love this; everyone is following. For once again, GM is being a leader. That's something to be excited about!

Heh heh... Yup. Exactly.
THe only big question mark is, "How long of a lead can GM maintain to establish EFlex in the market before the competition catches up?"

Mercedes will have no competition in the luxury market.

[zete]

Originally Posted by mgescuro

Heh heh... Yup. Exactly.
THe only big question mark is, "How long of a lead can GM maintain to establish EFlex in the market before the competition catches up?"

Mercedes will have no competition in the luxury market.

Question is, how far along is Mercedes. Is it all just slideware at the moment or actual hardware. If Toyota hasn't got anything done yet I doubt Mercedes has anything. They had to come to GM for the 2-Mode so perhaps they're waiting for GM to rent out E-Flex?

So far what I've seen from Mercedes is 2-Mode (from GM), mild hybrid (ala GM), and now news about an E-Flex-like vehicle (ala GM). Even their concepts look like GM cars.

Maybe Mercedes is right, there is no complexity in their way as they're just copying GM. How complex can that be?

[GMfan1111]

They already have Hybrid Electric Vehicle testers out and about. i had these pics in two other threads here but they were largely forgotten so here they are again. Anyway back to the interview, it was a good read and i can't wait to see how mercedes system fairs against the E flex

[Mr. Burns]

Originally Posted by big swede

It looks like everyone is now trying to jump on board immediately trying to act like they are the innovators. How long has gasoline been over $5.00 a gallon in Germany? It appears that GM is finally leading the way instead of having to react to the market like they have for the last 20-30 years. I will give GM credit unless someone is keeping the same, or better technology awfully quite. The only proof that would prove that fact is if their product beats the Volt to market. Until then GM gets the props and everyone else is reacting to GM for a change.

ummm no, god knows how long they've been working on this, them and other manufacturers. GM is just a lot more vocal about their projects, something which I think should be changed.

[big swede]

Originally Posted by Mr. Burns

ummm no, god knows how long they've been working on this, them and other manufacturers. GM is just a lot more vocal about their projects, something which I think should be changed.

That's just it, you don't know how far along they are. Until their product beats the Volt to market GM is the one finally leading the way. Now if someone suprises everyone and beats the Volt to market then they get the credit because either they were ahead all along or leapfrogged GM.

[emh]

Originally Posted by Mr. Burns

ummm no, god knows how long they've been working on this, them and other manufacturers. GM is just a lot more vocal about their projects, something which I think should be changed.

GM has had to drum up their upcoming products well in advance to counter the constant flow of negative news and an image of being environmentally unfriendly to try to gain some credibility among investors and consumers. Hopefully that's just a temporary thing (both the negativity and the response)...

[ChevroletRevived]

Originally Posted by mgescuro

Heh heh... Yup. Exactly.
THe only big question mark is, "How long of a lead can GM maintain to establish EFlex in the market before the competition catches up?"

Mercedes will have no competition in the luxury market.

Yeah, that's a very good question. We're going to see I guess. I do know that Cadillac will be getting the E-Flex very soon (could be a matter of 6 months) after the Volt hits.