It is said that new energy has risen, and new energy has been involuted. But for luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW, there is quite a taste of "he is strong, he is strong, and the breeze blows the hills". For example, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class has sold 141,815 units in the past sales statistics from January to November 2023. According to the monthly sales estimate of 1.4W of Mercedes-Benz C-Class in December 2022, the annual sales of Mercedes-Benz C-Class in 2023 should be more than 150,000.
As a medium-sized car, that is, what we often call a B-class car, the performance of the Mercedes-Benz C-class is still much brighter than the BMW 3 Series. The BMW 3 Series will still be discounted, but the Mercedes-Benz C-class sits firmly in the top spot of the "34C", which can be seen from the starting price.
The official guide price of Mercedes-Benz C-class is 333,200-379,000 yuan, the guide price of BMW 3 Series is 299,900-399,900 yuan, and the official guide price of Audi A4L is 321,800-400,800 yuan.
The Mercedes-Benz brand set a high starting price at the beginning, but the discount performance was mediocre, maintaining its high-end positioning. Even if the 1.5T nose is used, consumers who choose the Mercedes-Benz C-class are coming one after another, especially many female consumers.
Mercedes-Benz C-class is actually divided into a variety of different style orientations in China, namely long-wheelbase C-class sports sedan, long-wheelbase C-class sedan, and standard wheelbase C-class sports version. In addition to this, there are other categories such as the C-Class Tourer, AMG C43, AMG C43 Touring Sedan, and C-Class PHEVs.
As early as around 2005, with the deepening of the cooperation between Beijing Benz and DaimlerChrysler (now Beijing Benz), Mercedes-Benz began to import the C-class sedan into the Chinese market.
In 2006, Beijing Benz officially started the localization of Mercedes-Benz C-class models, and the first localized Mercedes-Benz C-class was the C230 fashion model, priced at 428,000 yuan.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Mercedes set the tone for the high-end. At that time, the total GDP of the country was 21.94 trillion yuan, and the national per capita GDP was 16,700 yuan/person.
When the fourth-generation Mercedes-Benz C-Class was launched in 2014, Mercedes-Benz not only achieved a new design and technical configuration upgrade, but also paid more attention to customizing products for the Chinese market.
In order to meet the needs of Chinese consumers for rear space, Beijing Benz also launched a long-wheelbase version of the C-class sedan, that is, the Mercedes-Benz C-class long-wheelbase version - C-Class L debuted. The arrival of the long wheelbase, spacious rear seat experience and luxurious interior atmosphere have further enhanced the competitiveness of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class in the luxury mid-class car market.
Now 18 years later, the Mercedes-Benz C-class is no longer as unattainable as it used to be, and the growth of per capita GDP has also reached earth-shaking changes in the 30 years since China's economic take-off.
In 2022, the total GDP of the country will reach 120.47 trillion yuan, and the national per capita GDP will reach 85,700 yuan/person. From 25 to 4 years, the miracle of China's economic growth, Mercedes-Benz C-Class is a good witness.
Epilogue:
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is still the dominant luxury B-class car, but it has gone from being unattainable in the past to being readily available today.