Preview Test: 2006 Mercedes-Benz M-Class
At the 1912 Olympic Games of Stockholm, while King Gustav V of Sweden was presenting the gold medal to the decathlon winner, American Jim Thorpe, the King proclaimed, "You sir, are the world's greatest athlete."
Within the realms of track and field, decathletes must be masters of speed, strength and stamina. But what about considering mid-sized luxury sport-utility-vehicles as the decathletes of the modern automotive marketplace?
Mercedes-Benz is credited with creating this now fully burgeoned niche in 1997 with the introduction of their original ML 320, internally known as W163. The all-new vehicle was built at an as-new plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and suffered from startup quality issues such as malfunctioning electronic key fobs, interiors that reeked of cost-cutting, boxy styling, and an overall driving experience that was not what one expected from a luxury marque such as Mercedes.
In the face of all this, with little, if any, class competition during the first few years--and with that big tri-star on the hood helping a wee bit, the first M-Class was a sales success. Over 600,000 customers, 23,000 in Canada alone, ended up purchasing the first generation M-Class.
The first generation's success has caused the new M-Class, the W164, finding itself severely elbowed in the marketplace. Such competitors as Acura's MDX, BMW's X5, Infiniti's FX Series, Lexus's RX330/GX470, Porsche's Cayenne, Land Rover's LR3 and Range Rover Sport, Saab's 9-7X, Volkswagen's Touareg, and Volvo's XC90, all came to the marketplace after the pioneering Mercedes.
To meet these new-kids-on-the-mid-sized-luxury-SUV-block head on, during a recent two-day launch event, Mercedes-Benz of Canada's Director of Marketing and Public Relations, JoAnne Caza, stated that, "With our new M-Class, we're upping the ante once again."
To address the first generation's quality concerns, according to Mercedes-Benz U.S. International's Kirsten Hoff, Mercedes has invested another $600 million U.S. into its Alabama plant, has added another 800 robots, and has hired 2,000 real-life human workers.
"Last year's M-Class scored second in class in a JD Power initial quality survey, and with the new M-Class, we're achieving quality at launch mode," said Ms. Hoff.
As before, you can order your M-Class with either six- or eight-cylinder engines. The 3.5-litre dual-over-head-cam 24-valve six, introduced in the new SLK sports car, powers the new ML 350, while the ML 500 sticks with an improved rendition of the revered 5.0-litre litre single-over-head-cam 24-valve eight. Standard on both models is the industry's first seven-speed manumatic transmission.
The last generation M-Class had available seven-seat capacity, but the third row was definitely an afterthought. Despite the new model being larger in nearly every dimension, it's strictly a five-seater.
Hannu Ylanko, Director of National Sales for Mercedes-Benz Canada, admitted that third row seating in the mid-sized M-Class would be a compromise to passenger safety and suspension geometry. "The reason we can get away with this is that we have two other vehicles coming--the R-Class and G-Class--which will be six and seven seaters respectively."
At the 1912 Olympic Games of Stockholm, while King Gustav V of Sweden was presenting the gold medal to the decathlon winner, American Jim Thorpe, the King proclaimed, "You sir, are the world's greatest athlete."
Within the realms of track and field, decathletes must be masters of speed, strength and stamina. But what about considering mid-sized luxury sport-utility-vehicles as the decathletes of the modern automotive marketplace?
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| The first M-Class was a sales success. (photo: DaimlerChrysler) |
In the face of all this, with little, if any, class competition during the first few years--and with that big tri-star on the hood helping a wee bit, the first M-Class was a sales success. Over 600,000 customers, 23,000 in Canada alone, ended up purchasing the first generation M-Class.
The first generation's success has caused the new M-Class, the W164, finding itself severely elbowed in the marketplace. Such competitors as Acura's MDX, BMW's X5, Infiniti's FX Series, Lexus's RX330/GX470, Porsche's Cayenne, Land Rover's LR3 and Range Rover Sport, Saab's 9-7X, Volkswagen's Touareg, and Volvo's XC90, all came to the marketplace after the pioneering Mercedes.
To meet these new-kids-on-the-mid-sized-luxury-SUV-block head on, during a recent two-day launch event, Mercedes-Benz of Canada's Director of Marketing and Public Relations, JoAnne Caza, stated that, "With our new M-Class, we're upping the ante once again."
To address the first generation's quality concerns, according to Mercedes-Benz U.S. International's Kirsten Hoff, Mercedes has invested another $600 million U.S. into its Alabama plant, has added another 800 robots, and has hired 2,000 real-life human workers.
"Last year's M-Class scored second in class in a JD Power initial quality survey, and with the new M-Class, we're achieving quality at launch mode," said Ms. Hoff.
As before, you can order your M-Class with either six- or eight-cylinder engines. The 3.5-litre dual-over-head-cam 24-valve six, introduced in the new SLK sports car, powers the new ML 350, while the ML 500 sticks with an improved rendition of the revered 5.0-litre litre single-over-head-cam 24-valve eight. Standard on both models is the industry's first seven-speed manumatic transmission.
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| 2006 Mercedes-Benz M-Class (photo: John Leblanc, straight-six.com) |
Hannu Ylanko, Director of National Sales for Mercedes-Benz Canada, admitted that third row seating in the mid-sized M-Class would be a compromise to passenger safety and suspension geometry. "The reason we can get away with this is that we have two other vehicles coming--the R-Class and G-Class--which will be six and seven seaters respectively."