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Mercedes designates its 2006 R-Class models as "sports tourers." Which is to say the R-Class isn't so much an SUV or a minivan--there's already a new M-Class for 2006--so much as a station wagon with a very serious superiority complex. The six leather seats practically wait at attention. The overly busy command-center dashboard console wants to trade business cards with a Gulfstream...
...must, given the pounding Mercedes is taking from the likes of Lexus. The company is introducing a new S-Class (starting price for the flagship S500L version: around $115,00), which hits U.S. streets in January, joining two new R-Class models and a new M-Class SUV. At the same time, Mercedes has to revamp its manufacturing--no easy chore in high-cost Germany, a country whose problems in many ways reflect those of its signature car company. The task will fall to new DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche, 52, who has already worked miracles in overhauling the once disastrous...
...timing is good, because Mercedes is in the midst of a product offensive, including the launch of its new top-of-the-range S-Class series and a restyled version of its popular M-Class SUV. Even before Zetsche's arrival, Mercedes was putting in place a restructuring program introduced by Cordes that aims to boost the company's return on sales to 7%--it's now close to zero--and Zetsche is widely expected to accelerate those measures...
...developing new models too quickly, according to company officials and analysts. Hayek long ago dropped out. But even before the original model he helped to inspire had established itself, Smart moved on to new territory: the model range was extended to a four-seater, a roadster and a planned SUV...
Mercedes and its parent, DaimlerChrysler, have delivered an ultimatum to Smart, which is based near Stuttgart but whose cars are manufactured in France: Break even by 2007 or else. The roadster and the SUV have been axed, as have one-third the employees. Ulrich Walker, Smart's president, says the firm has reduced fixed costs 26% and is "on the right track toward an economically sound future." Some financial analysts are urging Daimler not to wait until 2007, but Dieter Zetsche, the newly appointed chief executive, says that "it's only fair to give them the time to deliver...