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Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy
Mercedes had dark days during the Chrysler merger. They aren't back to the grand old days of building the best cars on Earth, but they're getting closer. Sadly they seem to be dominated by electrical engineers, because their focus is on cramming as many gizmos as possible onto each model. BMW is the same way.
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There is a reason for this: average Joe consumer & differentiation. Basically, when every other car on the planet has stuff like Navi, traction control, ABS and the old technology stuff like power doors & locks, ps, pb, the luxo car makers have to rely on these (worthless in many cases) techno gadgets to differentiate their cars over the Chevys and Toyotas of the world. Why? 'Cause if Joe Average's Chevy Cruze is equiped with the same 'options' as is available in a Mercedes CLS, then Mrs. Wall-Street Jones won't be too happy now, will he?
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I would define engineering oriented (and I'm an engineer) by the focus of doing something simply to prove that it can be done and doing it to perfection, not to satisfy a business case. Companies like Lotus, McLaren, Koeingsegg, and Pagani are PERFECT examples of this. Their cars reflect the drive to be the best, to build the best car regardless of the cost. We have a saying at work, "don't let perfect become the enemy of good enough". These carmakers are driven by perfect. Most makers, including Mercedes and Porsche, are driven by good enough because it creates a profit.
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Wonderful! Then technically, by extention, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are also engineer-driven automaker. How so? Well, considering that one of the most important components (engine and drivetrain) of these cars (McLaren, Keingsegg, Pagani) are made (ie engineered) by Mercedes and BMW, well, one can only conclude...
-Z-man.