Mercedes Owners Much Richer than Cadillac Owners

12896 Views 86 Replies 37 Participants Last post by sfbreh, Dec 14, 2014

afako

Discussion Starter · Nov 27, 2014

Mercedes-Benz owners in China are probably successful and wealthy entrepreneurs while those who drive a Cadillac are likely white-collar workers, according to a brand study released today.

http://driving.ca/cadillac/auto-new...n-china-wealthier-than-cadillac-owners-survey

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voyager

· #2 · Nov 27, 2014

It's an uphill battle for Cadillac. The more affluent Chinese travel the world, and notice how cars are perceived all over the globe. It's not like China is virgin ground where Cadillac can position itself as a premium brand because it says so.

Jesda

· #3 · Nov 27, 2014

Asians have always been obsessed with MB. I remember growing up how much my parents would fawn over the cars from the Bruno Sacco design era.

The brand has fallen out of favor for me except for the SLK and G-wagen. I've become a Cadillac fan.

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TigerMWM

· #4 · Nov 27, 2014

Wealthy people everywhere know that buying a luxury car with the worst resale value and low prestige factor, is really dumb.

This isn't the message executives and professionals want to convey either. They'd rather drive a Toyota Camry, as its better to be seen as being cheap rather than stupid.

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Jesda

· #5 · Nov 27, 2014

TigerMWM said:
Wealthy people everywhere know that buying a luxury car with the worst resale value and low prestige factor, is really dumb.

This isn't the message executives and professionals want to convey either. They'd rather drive a Toyota Camry, as its better to be seen as being cheap rather than stupid.

That's an exaggeration of reality. If resale value mattered, no one would buy luxury cars at all. You should see the staggering decline in value for the CL coupe.

Cadillac owners aren't perceived as stupid either. Elderly perhaps, but not stupid.

It's all about prestige and MB has gobs of it.

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TigerMWM

· #6 · Nov 27, 2014

Jesda said:
Asians have always been obsessed with MB. I remember growing up how much my parents would fawn over the cars from the Bruno Sacco design era.

The brand has fallen out of favor for me except for the SLK and G-wagen. I've become a Cadillac fan.

Not just Asians, but any group is likely to put Mercedes as the top brand. I don't own a Mercedes and have no plans to buy one, but if I had $3 MM in assets, I'd likely be at the Benz dealer ordering up a new E class coupe.

TigerMWM

· #7 · Nov 27, 2014

Jesda said:
That's an exaggeration of reality. If resale value mattered, no one would buy luxury cars at all. You should see the staggering decline in value for the CL coupe.

Cadillac owners aren't perceived as stupid either. Elderly perhaps, but not stupid.

It's all about prestige and MB has gobs of it.

Its not just resale value alone....but the ratio of (prestige/resale) times ownership experience. An S Class has more real dollar depreciation than an ATS, but factor in ownership experience and prestige...and its not even close.

Rocket 88

· #8 · Nov 27, 2014

voyager said:
It's an uphill battle for Cadillac. The more affluent Chinese travel the world, and notice how cars are perceived all over the globe. It's not like China is virgin ground where Cadillac can position itself as a premium brand because it says so.

Exactly. And the problem with all the rhetoric about moving to NY, increasing prices and the new alpha numerical naming is that no one has a addressed the real underlying problem; there needs to be a compelling reason for someone to select a Cadillac. Making vehicles that are just as good isn't one of them.

What Cadillac does uniquely have in it's favor is it's American, but now it seems they are intent in positioning the vehicle upmarket from its traditional buyers in its home market. So just my opinion, but I'm betting they do a better job alienating their existing customers then attracting new ones. Instead of again trying to run things a German also ran, they should creatively try to include existing customers and move upmarket. It can't be impossible with the Germans all trying to move base product down market...

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JBsZ06

· #9 · Nov 27, 2014 (Edited)

Thanks for calling those of us who are Cadillac owners old and stupid.......oh and poor...LOL

Happy thanksgiving!

What a great group of auto enthusiasts this site has...

Where I live in the northeast it seems Mercedes are a dime a dozen...and interestingly enough in my small town of 4000 many are a great percentage Asian....

I thought it was the excellent school system that made this upscale town desirable only to find out it's the large percentage of Mercedes Benz that draws people here. ...( kidding of course)

Google gooble

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dslay04

· #10 · Nov 27, 2014

Helps to have vehicles priced in their class

Oldsmobile stopped

· #11 · Nov 27, 2014 (Edited)

Warren Buffets will be the worlds first trillionaire thats all that counts, when "money-is-no-object" it's the Lincoln Town Car & Cadillac XTS is all that matters.

Warren Buffett recently treated himself to a brand new Cadillac and was so impressed with the dealership he sent a letter of praise to General Motors chief executive Mary Barra.

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sfbreh

· #12 · Nov 27, 2014

Jesda said:
Asians have always been obsessed with MB. I remember growing up how much my parents would fawn over the cars from the Bruno Sacco design era.

The brand has fallen out of favor for me except for the SLK and G-wagen. I've become a Cadillac fan.

I'm pretty sure you're the only person who likes both the SLK AND the G-wagen.

I still think Mercedes is probably the best luxury brand, but the only cars they make that I ever actually consistently liked were the S-Class sedan and coupe and the G-wagen. I liked the older SL (circa 2003) and like the new C.

JBsZ06 said:
Thanks for calling those of us who are Cadillac owners old and stupid.......oh and poor...LOL

Happy thanksgiving!

What a great group of auto enthusiasts this site has...

Where I live in the northeast it seems Mercedes are a dime a dozen...and interestingly enough in my small town of 4000 many are a great percentage Asian....

I thought it was the excellent school system that made this upscale town desirable only to find out it's the large percentage of Mercedes Benz that draws people here. ...( kidding of course)

Google gooble

I died laughing.

Reactions: 1

Jesda

· #13 · Nov 27, 2014

TigerMWM said:
Not just Asians, but any group is likely to put Mercedes as the top brand. I don't own a Mercedes and have no plans to buy one, but if I had $3 MM in assets, I'd likely be at the Benz dealer ordering up a new E class coupe.

Absolutely, but it seems to be a particularly strong preference among Asians. The data are out there but I haven't looked at any of it since 2004.

Jesda

· #14 · Nov 27, 2014

sfbreh said:
I'm pretty sure you're the only person who likes both the SLK AND the G-wagen.

I absolutely adored the older SLs, especially R129. That, to me, is the pinnacle of the two-seat, top-down, luxury experience.

I disliked the SLK until recently. The latest version doesn't come across as a shrunken, cheapened SL or an overpriced answer to the Miata. It has a more distinct identity.

And anyone who hates the G-wagen is dead to me.

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Neanderthal

· #15 · Nov 27, 2014

So where's the rest of the article? This piece is about as vapid as you could ask for.

If they focus-grouped 800 people, there should be more than a few paragraphs here and a very vague "summary.":

probably successful and wealthy entrepreneurs while those who drive a Cadillac are likely white-collar workers

S-L-O-P-P-Y. Where is the rest? Oh, I already said that.

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sfbreh

· #16 · Nov 27, 2014

Jesda said:
I absolutely adored the older SLs, especially R129. That, to me, is the pinnacle of the two-seat, top-down, luxury experience.

I disliked the SLK until recently. The latest version doesn't come across as a shrunken, cheapened SL or an overpriced answer to the Miata. It has a more distinct identity.

And anyone who hates the G-wagen is dead to me.

Any man who claims to like cars but hates the G-wagen is not a man.

Death is merciful for them.

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mchicha

· #17 · Nov 27, 2014

They better be, Mercedes Benz products are much more expensive than Cadillac even in tiers Cadillac sell in.. Who does these 'I could have told you so' studies?

ricktherealtor

· #18 · Nov 27, 2014

Ever notice while watching the news on TV that in any god forsaken country where they're showing some mob of terrorists in the streets, those terrorists are always driving MB's. They must be really cheap in that part of the world, or my chosen occupation isn't paying enough here.

baloo

· #19 · Nov 27, 2014

The full report can be accessed here:

http://up.hurun.net/Hufiles/201411/20141125230620119.pdf

It's in Chinese, but it should still be possible to make sense of the numbers.

So as far as I can tell this means (for Audi):

63% male buyers
Average age: 35.5 years
66% Bachelor degree, 33% Master degree
28.6k Yuan monthly income
75.4k Yuan household income
9.83 million Yuan net worth

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Ruperts Trooper

· #20 · Nov 27, 2014

ricktherealtor said:
Ever notice while watching the news on TV that in any god forsaken country where they're showing some mob of terrorists in the streets, those terrorists are always driving MB's. They must be really cheap in that part of the world, or my chosen occupation isn't paying enough here.

It the fact they keep on going for ever, same reason they're taxis in many countries.

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