How Mercedes-Benz came to compete with Porsche

Six years after "inventing" the saloon-coupe concept, Mercedes-Benz has launched the second generation of CLS, of which it plans to sell 170,000 units worldwide, with 300 to be delivered in Romania.

The first CLS was launched in 2004 at the New York Car Show, with the German carmaker also launching the niche of four-door coupes.
So far, over 170,00 units were sold globally, a good figure for a niche model. Mercedes-Benz research showed over 60% of CLS clients bought the car owing to design, and a third of the 170,000 were first time clients for Mercedes-Benz, coming from other brands. This is why the design of the new model is so strongly promoted.
Mercedes hopes to sell in Romania at least the same number of units sold by the first generation, though this will be hard to achieve, given the fierce competition among others. Mercedes officials see the new Audi A7, Porsche Panamera and BMW Series 5 GT as director competitors. The economic crisis, the mentality it created among wealthy people and the Government's future decisions on taxes are the factors set to decide the fate of these cars on the Romanian car market.