RE: New Mercedes-AMG G63 launched as a hybrid
Discussion
NomduJour said:
How can it not be cynical?
The W460 (an Iranian army runabout, remember) at least had some authenticity, and the idea of an archaic Austrian-German Land Rover with a big V8 was at least a bit silly - but this was an all-new, clean sheet design. It will never have any commercial or military or practical application. It has absolutely no authenticity or integrity whatsoever, it just looks like a bit like the old one - a complete fake.
The only reason it still has a solid axle and a separate chassis and external hinges and and three ‘70s tech diff locks which will never, ever be engaged, is because Mercedes, very cynically, know that it sells because of image and nothing else.
The original had that image because it was once an authentic, honest car built for a purpose. This is an inauthentic, dishonest car built for a purpose - to scam cash from awful people.
Cars are designed to sell, that is their whole purpose. It's not cynicism, it's called running a business. Mercedes designed the current G-Class as they did because the retro looks and off-road underpinnings are a key part of its identity, and are part of what has made it so successful. They make other unibody SUVs for people that don't want those traits. They're not being cynical, they're offering a range of products for a range of different customers.The W460 (an Iranian army runabout, remember) at least had some authenticity, and the idea of an archaic Austrian-German Land Rover with a big V8 was at least a bit silly - but this was an all-new, clean sheet design. It will never have any commercial or military or practical application. It has absolutely no authenticity or integrity whatsoever, it just looks like a bit like the old one - a complete fake.
The only reason it still has a solid axle and a separate chassis and external hinges and and three ‘70s tech diff locks which will never, ever be engaged, is because Mercedes, very cynically, know that it sells because of image and nothing else.
The original had that image because it was once an authentic, honest car built for a purpose. This is an inauthentic, dishonest car built for a purpose - to scam cash from awful people.
The more you speak, the more bitter you make yourself look, and the fact that you keep suggesting that there is something wrong with the people that buy a G-Class says it all. This isn't about manufacturer cynicism, but about your own internal biases and stereotyping perfect strangers because you don't like their car.
OK - so these people who drive these things around town, they do so because they like the “traits” which make it a worse vehicle than it should be?
I’m pretty certain they just think they look cool in a big square thing making big V8 noises and having doors that clang shut, and don’t give any of the rest a second thought.
Or is there an underground hardcore of real G-Class men, out there in the wilderness, doing real G-Class things, in Iranian army gear, diffs locked and gripped, in an interior like a tart’s handbag?
I’m pretty certain they just think they look cool in a big square thing making big V8 noises and having doors that clang shut, and don’t give any of the rest a second thought.
Or is there an underground hardcore of real G-Class men, out there in the wilderness, doing real G-Class things, in Iranian army gear, diffs locked and gripped, in an interior like a tart’s handbag?
NomduJour said:
Or is there an underground hardcore of real G-Class men, out there in the wilderness, doing real G-Class things, in Iranian army gear, diffs locked and gripped, in an interior like a tart’s handbag?
I used to have a Boxster but didn't drive everywhere at 171mph with the roof down. My wife doesn't drive every where with 7 kids in her S Max. Pretty much no-one is using their car to the extremes that they are capable of. Just like your expensive diving watch that can withstand 100m of pressure or camera that can shoot at 1/4000 of a sec.Could Steyr build a unibody without DB sugar-daddying a whole new plant? And if the qualities a unibody affords are of no consequence to the target audience, why would they?
As with many products, the preservation of "authenticity" is important to the long term desirability of the product (how long would this product preserve its cache as a 2wd faux-x-4?) , even if they features and characteristics that create said authenticity are of no utility to 99% of buyers.
For most of owners it's a means to communicate that the owner has £250k to drop on a car; and the rumbly V8 and unique, super-impactful looks (I find my eye inexorably drawn, like a child gawping at someone in a wheelchair) mightily assist that end. But that doesn't mean MB could manufacture a GLE-based cosplay G-Wagon and get away with it, at least not for long.
As with many products, the preservation of "authenticity" is important to the long term desirability of the product (how long would this product preserve its cache as a 2wd faux-x-4?) , even if they features and characteristics that create said authenticity are of no utility to 99% of buyers.
For most of owners it's a means to communicate that the owner has £250k to drop on a car; and the rumbly V8 and unique, super-impactful looks (I find my eye inexorably drawn, like a child gawping at someone in a wheelchair) mightily assist that end. But that doesn't mean MB could manufacture a GLE-based cosplay G-Wagon and get away with it, at least not for long.
Well, best write a strongly-worded letter to Mercedes and tell them they're doing it all wrong, eh? After all, what do they know? However, given the success of this car, and the fact they make and sell a range of unibody SUVs for other customers, I suspect they might not be too interested in the opinion of some random on the internet...
Like I said, bitterness through and through.
Like I said, bitterness through and through.
Jon_S_Rally said:
Well, best write a strongly-worded letter to Mercedes and tell them they're doing it all wrong, eh? After all, what do they know? However, given the success of this car, and the fact they make and sell a range of unibody SUVs for other customers, I suspect they might not be too interested in the opinion of some random on the internet...
Like I said, bitterness through and through.
Exactly. This guy speaks is if there is no other choice in the current line-up - it's not as if one cannot buy a GLA, GLC, GLE, GLS or even an electric model like a EQS SUV...Like I said, bitterness through and through.
I'm just glad that people enjoy buying what they like and that Daimler continues to sell G-Class models for them to enjoy. All this talk of a 'cynical' car is simply laughable.
Jon_S_Rally said:
Well, best write a strongly-worded letter to Mercedes and tell them they're doing it all wrong, eh? After all, what do they know? However, given the success of this car, and the fact they make and sell a range of unibody SUVs for other customers, I suspect they might not be too interested in the opinion of some random on the internet...
Like I said, bitterness through and through
Amazing how the Walt Brigade simply cannot get it. Why on earth could I be bitter about somebody buying a silly car?Like I said, bitterness through and through
Gucci etc sell a load of £500 t-shirts you can’t machine wash, this is essentially the same thing - overpriced and entirely unsuitable and unrelated to its original purpose.
What does this car do better for having a separate chassis and a live axle? It’s simply trading off a past it has zero connection to.
AmyRichardson said:
Could Steyr build a unibody without DB sugar-daddying a whole new plant? And if the qualities a unibody affords are of no consequence to the target audience, why would they?
As with many products, the preservation of "authenticity" is important to the long term desirability of the product (how long would this product preserve its cache as a 2wd faux-x-4?) , even if they features and characteristics that create said authenticity are of no utility to 99% of buyers.
For most of owners it's a means to communicate that the owner has £250k to drop on a car; and the rumbly V8 and unique, super-impactful looks (I find my eye inexorably drawn, like a child gawping at someone in a wheelchair) mightily assist that end. But that doesn't mean MB could manufacture a GLE-based cosplay G-Wagon and get away with it, at least not for long.
I doubt that many owners this side of the Red Sea have £250k in cash to stump up for one. As with many products, the preservation of "authenticity" is important to the long term desirability of the product (how long would this product preserve its cache as a 2wd faux-x-4?) , even if they features and characteristics that create said authenticity are of no utility to 99% of buyers.
For most of owners it's a means to communicate that the owner has £250k to drop on a car; and the rumbly V8 and unique, super-impactful looks (I find my eye inexorably drawn, like a child gawping at someone in a wheelchair) mightily assist that end. But that doesn't mean MB could manufacture a GLE-based cosplay G-Wagon and get away with it, at least not for long.
What 98% of owners will have will be the £2k a month needed to rent one.
NomduJour said:
Jon_S_Rally said:
Well, best write a strongly-worded letter to Mercedes and tell them they're doing it all wrong, eh? After all, what do they know? However, given the success of this car, and the fact they make and sell a range of unibody SUVs for other customers, I suspect they might not be too interested in the opinion of some random on the internet...
Like I said, bitterness through and through
Amazing how the Walt Brigade simply cannot get it. Why on earth could I be bitter about somebody buying a silly car?Like I said, bitterness through and through
Gucci etc sell a load of £500 t-shirts you can’t machine wash, this is essentially the same thing - overpriced and entirely unsuitable and unrelated to its original purpose.
What does this car do better for having a separate chassis and a live axle? It’s simply trading off a past it has zero connection to.
Literally no-one buying one of these in 2024 cares about its original purpose, whether or not the current iteration is related to the original product, whether it has a unibody or a body-on-frame, or indeed even its price (other than "can I afford it?"). As a vehicle it serves its primary function, which is to transport people from place to place on a public road in comfort, perfectly well. If people want to own one of these then Daimler is doing what all good businesses do, generating profit, by selling a product the market continually demands.
Using your logic, there are many, many other cars that could be said are unsuitable to the purpose of transporting people yet somehow people still want to own and enjoy them. There is no cynicism in that.
mrclav said:
Literally no-one buying one of these in 2024 cares about its original purpose, whether or not the current iteration is related to the original product, whether it has a unibody or a body-on-frame, or indeed even its price (other than "can I afford it?"). As a vehicle it serves its primary function, which is to transport people from place to place on a public road in comfort, perfectly well. If people want to own one of these then Daimler is doing what all good businesses do, generating profit, by selling a product the market continually demands.
Using your logic, there are many, many other cars that could be said are unsuitable to the purpose of transporting people yet somehow people still want to own and enjoy them. There is no cynicism in that
Yes, “perfectly well”. Just not as well as it should, because of some entirely spurious and pointless (as you accept) pretend connection with authenticity. Or are you saying that’s all that matters? Should the S-Class have a separate chassis and a live axle, just because you can make that drive “perfectly well”?Using your logic, there are many, many other cars that could be said are unsuitable to the purpose of transporting people yet somehow people still want to own and enjoy them. There is no cynicism in that
It is nothing to do with unsuitability of purpose, it’s the fact that it has wilfully been designed and engineered in an attempt to channel the honesty and sense of purpose the original had (because that actually was once a basic, rugged, tough army off-roader). That does not and cannot work, and is very definitely cynical.
People are buying them because it’s a Gee Wagon innit, and it makes V8 noises around town.
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