Mercedes-Benz GLK350

It’s Not Only Fuel Mileage

Nearly every news report out of New York or Washington attributes the sales problems of Detroit to poor fuel mileage.

What are they talking about?! Just as with the bailout hearings, the “experts” are mired in facts that were valid twenty-five (!) years ago.

Detroit builds plenty of high-mileage cars. The fact is that people who buy cars are interested in other things, too—image, design, reliability, driving characteristics. Image can be earned or created over a period of years with good product, design, and marketing, but not overnight, and not without all three factors.

Look at the only two brands to increase sales last year, Mini and Subaru. You know what they stand for. Then look at Dodge or Pontiac Mercury. No clear-cut image. See the difference?

Let’s hope that our government “experts” will not try to dictate product requirements to Detroit. That would really suck any remaining life out of a company.

I know a little of what I am talking about, because in the 1980s I had dealings with the Russian and Polish auto industries.

The cars worked like government programs.

Would you buy one?

Mercedes-Benz GLK350

Back in 1984, the first phase of the SUV era started with the introduction of the Jeep Cherokee. It was a good, well-thought-out vehicle, and many buyers found that they liked the utilitarian style.

Over the years, the SUVs got bigger, thirstier, and clumsier. That era seems to have ended with a new style of vehicle, the “crossover.” Half car, half SUV, it’s today’s hot ticket.

Mercedes-Benz has entered that arena with a car that reminds me a lot of that original Jeep, albeit built to a much higher standard. This newest Mercedes has a no-nonsense, just-the-right-size quality, in the spirit of that original Cherokee.

But Mercedes-Benz has an interesting problem. Thanks to J.D. Power and Consumer Reports surveys, any attentive consumer knows that, in this crossover world, inexpensive brands often outscore the expensive ones. Toyota, for example, makes a perfectly acceptable RAV4, the specifications of which the Mercedes almost exactly duplicates.

So how does Mercedes-Benz justify a thirty to forty percent price premium? This the GLK may explain. It has that quality of essential goodness and focus that the old Jeep had, but the GLK drives like a fine Mercedes-Benz passenger car. It’s a driver’s delight, with a crisp V6 engine and a seven-speed automatic transmission, precise steering, and very refined suspension.

Mercedes’s competition, Infiniti, has proceeded a bit differently. Its EX and FX crossovers are much more stylish. Although their tapered rear quarters compromise visibility and cargo space, the Infinitis offer equal quality, plus more equipment, for similar money.

But that three-pointed star is a pretty powerful trademark.

Back to the two brands, Mini and Subaru, that were the only to increase their United States sales in 2008. Notable: both produce highly focused products.

Subaru has managed to appeal to a wide-ranging audience, from Birkenstock wearers to high-performance car enthusiasts. For 2009, it keeps delivering. The Impreza WRX is a $30,000, lavishly equipped, all-wheel-drive sedan that accelerates like a Porsche. It’s also an able load carrier and a good ski car—broad capabilities.

Subaru has cultivated a sort of reverse-snob image based on slightly controversial designs combined with interesting technical features, like a boxier (Porsche-like) engine and all-wheel drive.

On a recent cross-country drive with my son in his two-year-old Subaru, I experienced the worst weather conditions I’d ever driven through—sleet, freezing rain, icy interstate road surfaces, and blinding, wind-driven, powdery snow. The sure-footed Subaru carried us through Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming securely, while locals were sliding into ditches. The same car, for all its ruggedness, is comfortable enough for 700-to-800-mile days. And, if the conditions permit, it’s quite happy at three-digit autobahn speeds.

The 2009 test car was even better than models from years past, but lost a little in design. To make up for its $20,000 looks, it drives like a $50,000 car, so its $30,000 price seems reasonable.

Alfa Romeo BAT 11

In the early 1950s, Alfa Romeo, in cooperation with the Italian design house Bertone, produced a trio of Berlina Aerodinamica Technica (BAT) cars, known as BAT 5, BAT 7, and BAT 9.

Dr. Gary Kaberle, a Michigan dentist, bought BAT 9 many years ago, when he was only 16. Years later, he married, and his wife contracted breast cancer. He sold BAT 9 to help finance treatment, but he wasn’t finished with his BAT involvement.

A couple of years ago, he contacted Alfa Romeo and Bertone with a proposal to create for him a BAT 11, which they did. The finished product is the only privately owned car exhibited at the recent Los Angeles and Detroit Auto Shows. The mechanicals are similar to recent eight-cylinder Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, and Maseratis.

Isn’t it great that a project like this is even possible in 2009?

Martin Swig is a former San Francisco new-car dealer who now presents the internationally-celebrated California Mille and other historic car events. As a free service to Gazette readers, he’ll offer suggestions on how to dispose of a cherished car. Call him at 415-479-9950.