German luxury brand Mercedes-Benz has extended a tongue-in-cheek thanks to arch-rival BMW for helping boost the sales of its B-Class compact people-mover.
Benz believes BMW’s recent promotion of its own forthcoming compact people-mover, the 2 Series Active Tourer, has helped raised the profile of the B-Class and played a role in a sharp recent rise in sales.
In media briefings conducted locally in July, then BMW Group Australia Marketing General Manager, Toni Andreevski – who has since moved to Porsche Cars Australia and also once worked at Benz -- consistently identified the B-Class as the clearest competitor for the 2 Series people-mover.
So much so that the 2 Series Active Tourer, which is BMW’s first front-wheel drive production car and goes on sale in Australia in November, has been dubbed the ‘B ClassMW’ within Benz’s Australia-Pacific headquarters in Melbourne.
“I want to put on record our thanks to Toni because during the launch of the B ClassMW he talked about the B-Class on every occasion,” Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific Senior Communications Manager David McCarthy told motoring.com.au.
“It obviously drove quite a few sales because we had a ripper month in July. So thank you Toni and we wish him well at Porsche.”
BMW Australia has made it clear it expects the new 2 Series derivative to be a volume player, citing the sales performance of the B-Class, which attracted 3248 sales in 2013.
B-Class sales had slumped by 43 per cent in the first half of 2014 as other small front-wheel drive Benzes such as the A-, CLA- and GLA-Class (all based on the same MFA architecture), chomped into its share.
But in July the B-Class had its best month of the year, selling 490 examples and rebounding to within 23 per cent of its 2013 running total, at the same time as BMW was spruiking the new 2 Series.
“All jokes aside, the 2 Series Active tourer will refocus buyers on that segment,” McCarthy said. “It’s not a segment that is shrinking, it is a segment that still has good potential in it and we want our share of it.”
The 2 Series Active Tourer range will enter the Australian market with a higher price, specification and performance than equivalent B-Class models.
McCarthy said there would be a Mercedes-Benz response but played down how strong it would be.
However, these spy shots indicate that for 2015 the B-Class will receive new headlights and tail-lights and a fresh front bumper, plus interior updates.
"There is a small facelift coming for the vehicle later in the year,” McCarthy said. “It’s not hugely significant, but that’s an opportunity to re-look at it.
“We already think it is well equipped and well priced.”
Apart from the updated B-Class and the arrival of the first variants of the new W205 C-Class, Mercedes-Benz will this year also add the GLA 45 AMG, S-Class Coupe and initial supplies of the updated CLS, as it shoots for a new annual sales record around 30,000 units in 2014.
Beyond that the AMG GT ‘911 fighter’, the twin-turbo C 63 sedan and GLK mid-size SUV will be launch highlights in 2015.
McCarthy also confirmed a decision on adding the C 400 or C 450 AMG Sport to the C-Class line-up would be made by the end of this year.
As previously reported by motoring.com.au, the C 450 is the favoured option. Both cars are powered by a twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 and either choice would debut 4MATIC all-wheel drive for the C-Class in Australia.