Peak Mercedes was achieved in the early 90s – one could argue the late 80s – when they got the whole world to agree their cars were overengineered and, therefore, better than all the others. Thanks to that, they were viewed as the automobile equivalent of excellence, until it became complicated for Mercedes to compete with Lexus, who had imposed itself in the mid-90s with the LS400. It was just as good, if not better, than the S-Class and it didn’t cost you your firstborn child. The LS400 only got better with time, and in the late 2000s, it was hard to explain why you’d spend the extra money for a Mercedes. Later, in 2012, electric cars became the new hot thing, thanks to Tesla’s Model S. Mercedes was late to the party, and unveiled its first electric car six years later, which is forever in the car world.

When 2018 rolled around, the generated EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of Mercedes was 1.37 billion euros, 35% less than in 2017, and it kept dropping as time went by.

Mercedes had to make a choice: either double down on quality products and raise the prices of what are already expensive cars, or, tap into the slightly less luxurious market where quality standards are lower, producing more at a cheaper cost.

The latter option was chosen…

The A-Class and the CLA-Class are products of this decision. They look fine from a few feet away, but the closer you get the more you see the cheap exterior plastic trim, the fake vents and, if you get in the car, the build quality that isn’t to the standard of the three pointed star. To make matters worse, both cars share their diesel engines with the Renault Clio… It’s the equivalent of buying a Rolex, only to find out it’s actually a Casio. It’s a farce, a disgrace, and a rip-off, but it was necessary. Mercedes was printing money thanks to these two atrocities. The cheap price tag paired with the luxurious logo on its hood attracted a lot of buyers. Unfortunately, those buyers were not the ones Benz had been used to, and the brand’s image changed due to it.
Mercedes wasn’t the untouchable brand of engineering excellence made for the people who were equally well-sorted in life as their car was engineered. Instead, they became the brand that makes slightly better-looking Clio’s for the people who want to look like they have it all together but are financing over 76 years at €255 a month with an interest rate of 300%, plus, they’ll only wash their car five times during the term of their loan. That’s not the image you want when you’re a luxury brand.
Mercedes, like Austin Powers in Goldmember, lost its Mojo.

In 2019, Ola Källenius became the new Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz. And like everyone else, he jumped on the bandwagon and swore Mercedes would go full electric within the next couple of weeks. 

How did that go? Well, in 2020, Ola’s first full year as Big-Boss, Mercedes sold two million cars. That’s 300,000 less than the year before. You could blame it on COVID, the imminent recession, the inflation, whatever you want, I don’t have the brains to explain what economic principle was at play here, but what I can tell you is you have to be incredibly desperate to buy an electric Mercedes. You can easily find a better option from Telsa, or Porsche. The EQS, which is supposed to be the electrified equivalent of the S-Class, looks like a morbidly obese insect, doesn’t have the legacy of the S-Class, has a smaller range than a used golf cart, and ultimately, doesn’t live up to the perfection of the S-Class. That’s why it didn’t sell. Merc’s electric cars were as much of a car as I am a professional dancer – I can dance, but so can any other fool who drank too much. 

So in 2020, while the EV thing was booming and everyone was running around like chickens without their heads buying them, Mercedes, who had made a turd of a car, was at the back of the field with their thumb up their bum.

Ola had to figure something out.

A couple years ago, he decided that the plan to save Mercedes from certain death was to shrink the entry-level fleet (the A and CLA-Class and its peers) from six models to four. Claiming they should also be better crafted and therefore more expensive. He also said they’ll focus on making their flagship models, like the S-class, the G-class, the AMGs, and the Maybacks better than they already are. Finally, he wants what Benz calls their Core Luxury, which is the C and E-Class, to “point the way forward for the segment”. In other words, to lead the pack again. Like in the 90s.
Bold statement, don’t you think? Because at this point, in 2022, besides the S and G-Class, nothing was going well for Mercedes, not even its Formula 1 team.

But then, a few weeks ago, the 2024 E-Class and S-Class were released. Not much anticipation revolved around the release, no hype or big PR stunt, just a few journalists who got their hands on the cars and the reviews came rolling in: Car and Driver said that ‘With its top-notch comfort and cutting-edge tech, the S-class is the gold standard of luxury sedans’ and then, elected the E-Class as the best Midsize luxury car on the market.
Doug DeMuro said the E-class ‘continued the tradition of excellence’ and it beat all of its rivals on his famous DougScore. 
Road and Track said the E450 was ‘better than ever and deserving of love’. 
And Joe Biden said something but I couldn’t understand.
Finally, Autoblog.com explained that the E-Class was as luxurious as you’d expect.
No major car Magazine, YouTube channel, president or car blog gave a bad review about those two cars. Everything I see is positive; the automotive world is pleasantly surprised to see that the E-Class and the S-Class are as good as they are supposed to be. No one is making a fuss about it, but everyone is happy to see it. 
To top it off, George Russel won the Austrian Grand Prix a couple weekends ago and Hamilton won at Silverstone. I was still peeing my pants the last time Mercedes won a Formula 1 race, so it’s nice to see.

In sum, the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team is picking itself up and Ola’s plan for Mercedes-Benz looks like its working. It might be a bit premature to say this but, (read this in Austin Powers’ voice) Mercedes-Benz got its Mojo back, babyyyy!

It’s not all set and done of course; they still need to fix the whole EQ range and make their entry-level cars better. But they are on the right track, and I’m excited to see what the future holds.

Max.