When people are thinking about buying a German luxury car which costs less than $100,000, undoubtedly the three major brands are “MBA”: Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi.
Some folks consider these three brands to be equally reputable with similar brand image; while at the same time, fans of each brand may want to debate their beloved brand is more upscale than the others.
Here in this article I will provide some insights. One assumption that most people are agree on: the product line’s price range distribution determines the brand’s market position. For example, Rolls-Royce does not make any car model which MSRP is less than $200k; and Hyundai is not selling any model which costs more than $100k.
Since M/B/A offer the most complete model ranges in their domestic market, let’s list all models whose MSRP are greater than EUR €100k (in price ascending order), for all three brands in the German market.
Mercedes-Benz
E63 AMG 103,708
S500 106,743
E63 AMG 4MATIC 107,635
S500e 109,777
S500 (LWB) 109,777
E63 4MATIC wagon 110,253
S500 4MATIC 110,551
GLE63 111,384
S500 4MATIC (LWB) 113,585
GLE63 Coupe 115,251
AMG GT 115,430
CLS63 116,620
G63 117,450
E63 AMG S 4MATIC 119,059
CLS63 AMG 4MATIC 120,547
SL500 120,963
GLE63 AMG S 121,261
E63 AMG S 4MATIC wagon 121,677
S500 Coupe 122,153
CLS63 AMG 4MATIC Shooting Brake 122,451
GLE63 AMG S Coupe 125,485
S500 4MATIC Coupe 125,961
CLS63 AMG S 4MATIC 131,495
GL63 AMG 132,476
CLS63 AMG S 4MATIC Shooting Brake 133,399
Maybach S500 134,053
AMG GT S 134,351
Maybach S500 4MATIC 137,861
S63 AMG 152,022
S63 AMG 4MATIC (LWB) 155,295
SL63 AMG 161,542
S600 165,112
S63 AMG 4MATIC Coupe 170,586
S63 AMG Coupe 171,360
Maybach S600 187,841
G65 AMG 225,500
S65 AMG 235,739
SL65 AMG 239,785
S65 AMG Coupe 244,009
G63 6×6 450,000+
G500 4x4² unknown (but definitely > 100k)
BMW
750Li 100,200
650i xDrive Cabrio 102,700
750Li xDrive 103,600
750Ld xDrive 103,700
M5 104,000
X5 M 114,300
X6 M 117,700
M6 126,600
i8 130,000
M5 30th-year anniversary edition ~130,000
M6 Gran Coupe 131,400
M6 Cabrio 134,000
760i 137,600
760Li 147,400
Audi
RS6 109,200
RS7 113,300
S8 116,900
A8L W12 143,800
R8 V10 165,000
R8 V10 plus 187,400
R8 e-tron unknown but definitely > 100k
You can see, Mercedes-Benz has much more such models than BMW, and Audi has the smallest product line that satisfies the requirement.
While the above does not necessarily translates to “Mercedes is more upscale” directly; however it indicates Mercedes-Benz has much stronger confidence in selling products that are really expensive.
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