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Mercedes-Benz wins more awards in the UK than any other car manufacturer

Mercedes-Benz has yet again been one of the most awarded car manufacturers in the UK. Despite being German, the luxury car manufacturer has a huge fan base in the country and to be honest we can see why.

The Sonder Klasse (Special Class in German) has received more awards in 2014 than we can count with our fingers, with the latest to arrive earlier today.

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class was accompanied by the E-Class, with the two models being named “Best Luxury Car” and “Best Executive Car” respectively at the 2014 Fleet World Honors. 

Praised for the large array of safety systems introduced with its mid-cycle refresh in 2013, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class W212 was also complimented for its range of diesel engines, as we all know how pretty much all fleet cars in the UK are oil-burners. 

“The E-Class got a major facelift last year that included adding a huge amount of clever safety kit as standard and improving quality all round. So it’s now a very different car and it shows in the success it has had in fleet. The hybrid diesel is the best hybrid on the market and the traditional diesels are now extremely competitive too.” said Steve Moody, Editor of Fleet World Magazine, who organized the awards event.

Its larger brother, representing the top of the range when it comes to Mercedes-Benz luxury sedans and usually featuring technologies that will trickle down on other cars in the future, was commended for the smooth blending of luxury, refinement and comfort. 

“The S-Class is ubiquitous, and the new model is only set to make it more so. Mercedes just understands the luxury market perfectly, so you get unmatched levels of refinement comfort and luxury. Its clever new active ride suspension makes a mockery of potholes while options such as Burmester sound system and a whole menu of different types of massage make it the ultimate car in which to work and relax.” said Steve Moody.

In case it wasn’t obvious by now, both the current generations of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the E-Class are their segment leaders when it comes to fleets in the United Kingdom, a fact which somewhat explains the number of awards that they are receiving from various British magazines on a monthly basis.

Source http://www.autoevolution.com/news/mercedes-benz-s-class-and-e-class-win-more-awards-in-the-uk-81530.html

Car Dealership Inchcape sees growth in the luxury car market

We are constantly being told that the economy is growing and then it is in decline again, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the desire to have some luxury in our lives. The luxury car market seems to be growing year on year with some impressive figures coming out for the first half of 2014 for some companies.

Car dealership Inchcape said it delivered broad-based revenue growth in the first four months of 2014.

Group revenue was £2.212bn, up by 2.5% at actual currency (up 11.4% at constant currency). Like for like revenue was up by 0.8% at actual currency (up 9.5% at constant currency).

Demand for New Cars was robust overall and ahead of last year as the group continued to benefit from sustained growth in the premium and luxury segments.

Used Car and Aftersales activities, which represent c60% of the Group’s gross profit, performed well and ahead of last year, fuelled by the growth of the 1-5 year Car Parc following four years of consecutive growth in the New Car market.

A disciplined approach to cost control and cash conversion remains firmly in place.

André Lacroix, Group CEO, said:

“Inchcape has delivered a robust trading performance in the first four months of the year. Benefiting from broad-based growth across our markets and categories, we continue to expect to deliver a robust constant currency performance in 2014.

The Group has a track record of delivering premium growth with premium returns. This is a testament to the quality of our business model, our differentiated Customer 1st strategy and strong organisational discipline underpinned by our industry leading processes, which enable our operations to transform revenue growth into sustained earnings growth and strong cash generation.

Our partnerships with the world’s leading OEMs and the strength of our balance sheet position us both to seize attractive consolidation opportunities and make disciplined capital investment in high margin and high growth markets.”

Source: http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/4812263/Inchcape-sees-strength-in-the-luxury-car-segment.html#sthash.cuzErA2C.dpuf

BMW and Lexus over take Mercedes-Benz in Luxury Car ranking

Lexus and BMW have showed impressive growth figures and have taken over from Mercedes-Benz in the ranking of overall Luxury Car brands in the US.

Luxury automakers have been exceptionally busy over the past year: new designs, new vehicles, new agencies, new advertising, new marketing executives. In spite of the activity, posturing and jabbing in the ring, Lexus and BMW — Floyd Mayweather-like — seem to have taken the purchase-consideration lead in the late rounds so far this year, at least among the 1,200 or so consumers polled by marketing firm YouGov BrandIndex in an online survey.

The firm says Mercedes-Benz, which has consistently ranked among the top three luxury car brands in overall brand health this year, hasn’t gotten commensurate purchase consideration and is behind among all luxury brands.

By contrast, Lexus started the year behind Infiniti, Audi and Mercedes Benz, with only 6% of U.S. car buyers saying they would consider the brand in February. That metric is up to 16% now for the Toyota Motor luxury brand.

BMW’s purchase consideration surge with potential buyers began two weeks before Lexus, rising from a 9% in early February to a virtual tie with Lexus at 16% now, per YouGov BrandIndex, which reported that the lift happened around the time of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Perhaps not coincidentally, BMW had a big presence on the U.S. Bobsled sled team, having helped design the sleds and getting branding on the sleds and racewear and gear.

Sales have been strong for both brands. In April Lexus saw a 23% gain and BMW was up 8.5%, year-over-year. Year-to-date through April, Lexus was up 20.8% for its cars and 14.3% for its trucks; and BMW was up 10.7%.

“Lexus and BMW really separate from the pack,” says YouGov BrandIndex CEO Ted Marzilli. “That’s about three full months in the lead for BMW and about five to six weeks for Lexus.”

The firm’s study suggests that Infiniti, which has totally revamped its marketing and product, has the opposite challenge as Mercedes: while Infiniti is beginning to see a resurgence of purchase consideration, which has taken them from the bottom of the YouGov ranking to around the middle, their brand health has been near or at the bottom of the luxury car group for the year so far.

Marzilli tells Marketing Daily that BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz all scored well in advertising awareness, and that this awareness metric also indexes strongly (no surprise) for people who are in the market to buy a car.

But advertising alone doesn’t account for BMW and Lexus’ pole position. Perceived value, he says, plays a major role. He says that metric boils down to “A preconceived notion that it’s either too expensive or reasonable for what you get. Or they could be responding to a TV ad they saw this weekend, or new models. That may be what resonates.”

In the study, whose data is garnered from a poll of consumers who are in market to purchase a car over the next 12 months, Acura, Audi, BMW, Infiniti, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz were measured on “Index,” the research firm’s score of brand health based on the firm’s component scores of quality, value, impression, satisfaction, reputation, and willingness to recommend; and on purchase consideration.

Source – http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/225119/bmw-lexus-lead-in-luxury-auto-consideration.html

Worlds top 10 fastest road cars

 

Whether you prefer Ferrari over Lamborghini or Porsche over Jaguar, there is one thing that we all have in common. Its the need for speed! Take a look at the top 10 fastest road cars in the world.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport - Top 10 world's fastest road cars
 1. Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (268mph). This version of the original Veyron still has the same 8.0 litre, 16 cylinder   engine but upgrades have pushed it into the record books

SSC Ultimate Aero - Top 10 world's fastest road cars
 2. SSC Ultimate Aero (257mph). Built by USA firm Shelby SuperCars, it held the ‘world’s fastest car’ title   for more than three years. It has a twin turbo V8 engine with 1183hp and   costs from £435,000.

Saleen S7 Twin Turbo - Top 10 world's fastest road cars
 3. Saleen S7 Twin Turbo (248mph). An updated version of the California-built S7, this version was produced in   2005 and 2006 and cost £295,559. With the engine located in the middle of   the car, it had both a front and rear boot

Koenigsegg CCX - Top 10 world's fastest road cars
4. Koenigsegg CCX (245mph). The 4.7 litre twin-supercharged V8-engined car was first built in 2006 as a   version of the original CC. Created by the Swedish motor firm founded by   Christian von Koenigsegg, its name is an abbreviation of Competition Coupé   X, marking the 10th anniversary of the test drive of the first CC vehicle in   1996.

McLaren F1 - Top 10 world's fastest road cars
 5. McLaren F1 (240 mph). Fitted with a BMW S70/2 60 V12 Engine, it remains the world’s fastest   naturally-aspirated production car. Naturally-aspirated engines use   atmospheric pressure to increase the intake of air for combustion. 106 were   produced between 1992 and 1998.

Jaguar XJ220 - Top 10 world's fastest road cars
 6. Jaguar XJ220 (217mph). First conceived in the late 1980s as an after-hours project among Jaguar   workers, this car became an official Jaguar production with 281 manufactured.

Ferrari Enzo - Top 10 world's fastest road cars
7. Ferrari Enzo (217mph). Only 400 of these were ever produced, leading to price increases with every  sale. Named after the Italian company’s founder, Enzo Ferrari.

Pagani Zonda C12 F - Top 10 world's fastest road cars
8. Pagani Zonda C12 F (215mph). This Italian-designed car made its debut at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show

Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce - Top 10 world's fastest road cars
9. Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce (213mph). The 2009 incarncation of the Lamborghini Murcielago supercar has a top speed   of 213mph thanks to fine tuning of the original design

Porsche Carrera GT - Top 10 world's fastest road cars
 10. Porsche Carrera GT (205mph). The most powerful and most expensive Porsche, at over £300,000