New Mercedes E Class

Pricing of C-Class versus 3-series is mad as well..... 330e M-Sport €58,375 versus C300e €81,895

Merc sales way behind the other x2 germans - MB need to get rid of local distributor and look after distribution themselves - i dont mean direct selling - just new distributor

Yes Mercedes Benz pricing is way ahead of BMW and Audi and not worth the premium in my opinion

I think we are back to the old days when premium cars were exclusive to those who could afford their hefty prices. Second hand UK imports that suffered big depreciation helped make them affordable to the masses but Brexit and government tinkering with VRT has put an end to that now.

I think the E Class that you are looking at is a plug-in hybrid.

Here is a link the the cheapest E Class which is €70,500:-

The cheapest plug-in hybrid is €77,900:-

Exactly, this was to be expected.

As far back as 2017, M-B boss Dieter Zetsche and then M-B R&D boss (now M-B Chairman) Ola Källenius told us this was coming.

At the time they had over 40 models which was, frankly, way too much. Too much choice, too much R & D for marginal selling volumes and too marginal 'margins' for some of the entry level models. So Merc has gone back to what gave them their name in the first place : a narrower pallette of models, and higher prices, with greater margins (for them). Putting Merc back into the 'Luxury' zone they came from.

This won't cost them a sale, or more correctly and income, anywhere. Fewer models, less volume, more or the same cash, greater profits.

In other words, just like Porsche do.

Nobody wants estate cars anymore, so can’t really see that happening. People want high riding SUV’s these days

Gilmore's had a c class AMG line for 75k for a 2 litre diesel is mad money.

I remember back in 1993, a local business man bought a 2 year old e34 520i. It was the talk of the town........ the way these prices are looking now, we may be heading that way again where new German cars are for the rich only.

I'm on the lookout for a used car at the moment and, as we're all aware, price are exorbitant and choice is limited with the inability to import from the UK at a reasonable price any more. Gone are the days where you'd easily source a 3-year old model of your choice at 50% discount to new price.

I'm now looking at new and, although I'd much prefer petrol, it seems that recent price drops and competition in the arena of electric vehicles mean that one might find much more bang for their buck there.

This will certainly become a struggle for the EU manufacturers and Europe are now looking into doing something about it. The BYD Seal, for which Irish test drives began this week and the interiors are more similar to what we're all used to with traditional manufacturers as opposed to the minimilistic look of Tesla, is actually expected to outsell it's Tesla competitor next year.

Agree with the estate sentiment, if you try to buy a second hand one in any make but especially the premium brands you pay a big premium. The only advantage I see with SUV's is the higher ride height can be an advantage on some especially bad roads, and a lot of them are packaged to have wider rear seats as wheel well doesn't impact as much, but in general they never handle as well and often the boot size is smaller too. GLE on the configurator is starting at 145k too!

prestige estates never took off here , i always feel they scream ' family ' rather than slick business person

Not when it's a 4 cylinder diesel for 90k.

Weird you think back a few years you would get an s class for that money.

Should have just coded it out for €100..

That actually happened to my C Class as well. I had to get it coded out again and had to get the DPF removed too. I didn’t even consider replacing the Adblue or DPF, I’d say its an eye watering amount.

The worst part about your expensive Mercedes is the interior quality. They look great between the screens and ambient lighting, but once you start prodding things so much of it creaks and feels built to a budget.

..

They were OK price wise up to now but the new model C and E are just nuts.

The price differential with BMW and Audi is too large here relative to other markets. If you spec a BMW the extras are usually equivalent EUR/GBP. For Mercedes if you add extra to the paddy spec the add ons (like paint) are usually 2x/3x the UK price.

VAT is 3% higher here and VRT is 7% for hybrids. So you’d expect 10% more, however, it’s often way above this. Anything from paint to hyperscreen to seats etc. so many extras required on the paddy spec model to bring it to similar spec’d UK model.

configurator does not appear to be available on the website currently but it’s often been the case. It’s never been 10% extra for any option!

Think fact Mercedes distributor is an Irish company doesn't help, aside from pricing. The dealer network isn't as good as other two Germans either