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Sales Flew the Coop! Mercedes Realigns R-Class

It appears that Mercedes overshot its mark when launching the R-Class. Originally aimed at empty nesters, sales did not achieve targets. In December of 2005 Mercedes gently placed $5,000 of dealer incentives in the trunk for and added a $499 lease. In addition the model mix was changed to include a larger number of units that didn't have every conceivable option installed. These moves effectively lowered the price of entry to attract more families. Sales have responded: The average transaction price has fallen from $62,182 in October to $54,018 in December and $50,248 in March. MBUSA had to right its ship quickly, Lexus has been showing concepts that mirror the R-Class for some time now so it's only a matter of time before they enter the space. BMW is also launching an entry and of course the Audi Q7 is hitting show rooms soon. Undoubtedly there will be other entrants as well.

My personal beef with the R is its front end. The "anteater like" snout just gives me fits. I really like the idea of the car, just not the total execution. I also found the price to be rather breathtaking as well.

Full Autoweek article here.