The real title should have been: "Americans do not buy 3 door hatchbacks, especially expensive ones."

Next vid: Why the Mercedes S550 failed in Zimbabwe.

Please add "in the USA" to the end of the title, the compact 3 series paved the way for the 1 series which is an extremely popular car in Europe. Likewise Mercedes A class and derivatives like the GLA and CLA are also extremely popular here. Their lower entry point prices have meant they have stolen significant market share from traditional sellers of this size of car

Pls stop talking about a certain generation of car while simultaneously using pictures of a different generation

These cars failed??? None of these cars were discontinued globally, only in the US it seems.

“According to JD power” Mahk: *heavy breathing*

7:50 Doug's the kind of guy to write an article titled, "Luxury Cars: Are They Worth the Extra Money?"

"According to JD Power" Ok this video is a joke already.

The narrator had a rough day.

Looks like whoever wrote the title forgot that the USA isn’t actually the whole world🤦‍♂️

Correct title: "Here's some information about cheaper models from Mercedes and BMW that didn't sell well (btw it's only for America)"

Alternative title: Americans look at German brands as luxury instead of the normal car it is

Did they actually explain how the cars failed?

Or everyone is getting more used to the idea of buying a used car.

The C - Class Sportcoupe was a TOTAL success here in Spain, thanks to the economic situation that was raising among builders in the early 2000s IMO, I think it's a beautiful, beautiful model, with a timeless design with those characteristic round front lights.

As someone who used to work in a European car shop, I could write a novel on how much of a pain in the ass working on these vehicles is. Cheap quality, expensive parts, and almost every repair is going to cost more than expected because of the risk of breaking things whilst performing a repair. Diagnosing these vehicles and figuring out what exactly is wrong with them is almost like taking an automotive ACT. One time we had a customer come in with a couple of bulbs out in one of his headlights. We replaced them, and they still did not work. Upon further inspection, we found water damage to the headlight module, and wiring to both headlights starting to form. What’s the solution? Well, replace both headlights and the module. This $100-$150 headlight job turned into a $5500 headlight job. To anyone who drives one of these automobiles, please head this warning. Your pockets will thank you.

The BMW 3 series compact holds a special place in my heart. I got rundown by one of them

Its mainly US, small cars of both brands are highly sucessful on their continent

I hear “cheap luxury cars” and I think Merc CLA.

Especially for Mercedes, the entry price is usually a teaser rate, and if you want to get the co stuff, you usually have to spend 20k in options. Bmw 2 series is pretty good value.

I think a huge part of their problem with releasing a 'cheap' version of their cars, is their normal offerings depreciate so fast. Why spend 30K on a cheap Mercedes, when i can spend that or maybe even less on a higher end version that is only a couple years old?

"Cheap luxury" is an oxymoron. That's why.

@3:01 I had a C230 Sport Coupe and it was amazing. Handled like it was on rails and was tiny and super fun to drive - it was more of a hard-top SLK than a Coupe version of the C sedan. We owned that car for 175K miles and 15 years with no major failures. It was an amazing car. I drove the hell out of it - on the Tail Of The Dragon, Blue Ridge Parkway, etc., with dead serious sports cars and I didn't slow people down.

I actually was interested in buying a 6 series, SL, or a S class convertible...... .....but the problem is that there are BMWs and Mercedes EVERYWHERE....EVERYBODY has one and in different versions....I see more BMW and Mercedes than hondas now. So I ended up buying a used Maserati Granturismo instead and also will be buying a used Bentley GT. Part of buying a luxury car is that you wont see yours everyday. Benz and BMW is too common

Those current “cheap” cars from the Germans are only cheap before you start adding options. Want Apple CarPlay and Android Auto? Pay extra for it....whereas the economical brands offer that tech as standard equipment

Small BMWs and Mercs sell really well in Europe and are a great entry level for younger buyers to the brands who often remain loyal and upgrade. No brainer from the manufacturer. The reason they didn't do well in the US is more likely related to the fact that they dont have big 6 or 8 cylinder engines.

1:50 The "318ti" is called the "3-series compact" and comes as a 318ti, 316ti, 323ti or a 318tds. So a 1.8 4 cylinder, another smaller sized one, a 6 cylinder 2.5 lter, or a diesel (back when diesels were actually slow). Get your facts.

I love the disgust you can hear in the narrator’s voice at 9:48 🤣

Imagine buying a car for the “brand” instead of reliability and practically

typical cnbc, video has nothing to do with the title!

Not mentioned in the video: the 3 Series hatch was a moderate success in Europe; the C class coupe was successful; the CLA has sold like hot cakes.

So not only does this video have my car in it, it also has pics of my car down the road from where I live in the New Forest. Small world.

Cue Scotty Kilmer: All are endless money pits as they age. Better off with a1994 Toyota Celica.

The term “buy” is very misleading as the majority of BMW’s and Mercedes are leased - the owners never actually own about 65% of the vehicles worldwide.

I had a mercedes c coupé (something with a compressor). It was a great car, very nice to drive, fun with back wheel drive and responsive enough thanks to the compressor. But it was not cheap to own due to the expensive service fees. Did not see many of them rolling around here in Sweden though, so don't know how successful they were...

I had a black C230 coupe as my first car. Got it for $12,000 with 17k miles and sold it 3 years later for $11,900 with 32k miles. Loved that thing, handled like a dream, and all the chicks thought it was an “AMG”

Oh Boy, after the Corona Virus is controlled and done, how many of these Luxury vehicles is going to flood the used car market.

There’s no such thing as affordable luxury. Remember that

From a UK perspective I find the description of Audis, BMWs and Mercedes as 'luxury' cars kind of odd, we just consider them to be good quality cars that have luxury lines if you want them, and the lower end of these brands are quite successful.

People are genuinely thick when purchasing so called luxury car brands. The solution is very simple but people don’t understand the word Lexus.

"Endless money pit"- Scotty kilmer

CNBC @8:50: “a $94k S-Class” Shows a $55k AMG CLA 45

8:20 very true. When I got my BMW 535xi E60 LCI, I was the ONLY one in my family who owned a BMW. I was VERY proud. Now, since BMW/Benz are easily accessible to ANYONE (a 2013 BMW 5 series at $14k, and 50k miles), I felt like I was driving something like a camry. Everyone had one. So I changed to Toyota Prius. If everyone has one, might as well own a car thats bulletproof

Major reason why these cheap German luxury car fail is the cost of German luxury car mechanic remains the same price for all models. People who buy cheap luxury don't understand "German Mechanic" high maintenance cost. You see few old German Luxury cars on the road because beyond the second owner, an owner no longer has the means to fix it and junks it. Many German Luxury car owners also drive recklessly, because of celebrity image of wealth, prestige, power.

This video could have used more research or refinement. There's a lot of holes in information and many of the video clips don't correspond to what's being said.

It isn’t a luxury if everyone else has one.

I had a Merc C230 Coupe (and wife hadC240 estate). It did have leather seats (but too hard) and CD player and a great engine, but it also developed a lot of rust around the rear wheel arches (as I'd my wife's). Jaguar X-type sold VERY well in UK and you still see lots today, more in fact than the current small Jag.

The low priced Mercedes and BMW s are not the only failures.The ones in the $ 60,000 to 70,000. Price range are also failures especially the ones made in Mexico .The ones made in Germany not so much. The ones made in Mexico In that price range can lose 1/3 to 1/2 their value in just 2 to 3 years . There is a reason for this.

Cheap Cars but the repair is more often and not cheap.

The best car you could ever own is the one that serves you well and you forget that you own.................. Not one that owns YOU.

1:41 the correct name would be E36 (which is the correct type of 3er car of that time) with the added "compact" designation to set it appart from the regular 3er. Also known in some countries as "compost" instead of "compact" just to make even more fun out of it. 318Ti is just a engine/model type. And to be honest it would have been a good design if they went with frameless doors like the 3er coupe. But it went off to a newer version - the E46 Compact. WIth a terrible tail light composition and even worse head light.... situation... I would call it decently for now. And again the doors with frames. All that together was pretty much a death sentence to the model that could have been a VW Golf and Skoda Fabia rival. And after a few years BMW came with the 1er concept to try again and this time it worked. Nowadays you can get a "Compost" for silly money but it is the kind of opportuinty where you have to ask yourself if you really need this experience in your life :D

The 318tds/ti and the Sportcoupé, Jaguar X-type, etc were very much NOT failures, they sold really well elsewhere than in the USA!

“Sells cheaper cars to attract new buyers” Me: *buys a luxury entry car *realizes it’s a pos in the long run *never buy from brand again These luxury entry cars better give a good first impression and better be as reliable as a 1997 Toyota Camry with Silver paint and cloth seats

A "cheap" LUXURY car that depreciates like nobody's business and expensive to repair when the warranty runs out?!? Give me TWO, please and thanks!!

I haven’t even seen the video yet and I know they’re going to mention the 318ti and I’ve gotta say I LOVED owning that car, it was great

Cool video . Watched the entire thing. Missing one big thing to set this video off. More adds! As I watched my 17th commercial near the end I felt saddened knowing it could be my last.

Those of us auto enthusiasts old enough to remember when premium marques were exactly that remember being shocked as these manufacturers started coming out with not only "down market" cars but SUVs..... a Porsche SUV????? I actually remember going off on a poor, innocent Porsche rep at the autoshow at how anyone at the company who made the decision to make an SUV should be fired..... and I don't even have the cash to afford a Porsche today, almost 20 years later, let alone then. Another part of the equation is financing. Leasing. Big promotions. Today BMW and Mercedes push the crap out of their lease incentives just to get people into one of their cars. 20+ years ago, if you even SAW a Mercedes or BMW advertisement, it was strictly about the car. They never once mentioned price or financing, and I don't think you could even lease a Mercedes in the 1980s if you wanted to. Some high end companies like Rolls Royce wouldn't even finance internally..... if you wanted to buy a Rolls, and you could not afford to pay for it in full with a personal check or bring your own cashier check from your own bank, or a suitcase full of $200,000 in cash, you had to secure financing from an outside bank and bring THAT check to the dealer. Now everybody will finance you. You can make $50,000/yr and somehow Mercedes will find a way to get you into one of their cars. Mind you these are people who financially should be shopping for Hondas and Fords.

Narrator is just doing this as a side job until he can get back to fighting Mr. Anderson

Talks about a 90's BMW, shows photos of a 2000''s BMW. Show a photo of a CLK, explicitly gets the name wrong in dialog. Quality work guys.

The issues is for the high end buyers who feel there is no outward uniqueness to that car. S-class vs E-class style and look are the same. Interior wise the same just different quality. Could this become an issue down the road for the brand?

The toughest thing watching this was not falling asleep

The narrator sounds like he just ran 5 consecutive marathons to escape the coronavirus.

I have a 2007 C230 Sport and it's an amazing car! Solid car for someone who is attentive to their vehicle or has a couple grand in their savings.

It costs a lot just to get one, if anything needs repair such as lights, transmission, wipers, etc... very expensive too.

Wait what. BMW Merc & Audi are the 3 largest luxury car brand by volume? Lexus: Hello?

My entry into luxury was a used Maybach I got for 16k off Autotrader a few years back. Extremely low mileage but I sold after a month to some local dealer that wanted a flashy toy for more than I paid. I found an Audi A8 for 8 with 68k miles, sold that, found another Audi in Chicago for 10 sold that, then I settled on a used Kia fully loaded and put all the extra money into my house. The reason I never keep those cars is seeing the cost of maintenance. I also have a nice older subaru that I modded anyway and I dont actually worry about scratches, dings or maintenance, they are cheap and money goes further putting it into my house or my kids investment accounts. I did get my wife a Genesis G80 from 2016 I found at auction for a great price but I just dont think families that make less than 200k should waste money on something so frivolous when I've worked for millionaires who drove a 78 Chevy pickup and a old 80s Rolls. Every wealthy person I've met seems to never waste on things that LOSE value, that got my attention to not worry so much about luxury cars after always wanting them when I was younger. But that said I still will see 100k trucks and cars outside the projects.....

"Survival is a numbers game" Background image: BSE Bull. Au point.

6:33 Footage of Pittsburgh intersection of the Rachel Carson Bridge, Ninth St., and Ft. Duquesne Blvd. Wow @CNBC you took it back with that one! That's at least 15 years old. The building on the left is now Pittsburgh CAPA and 4Moms, and the building on the right used to house Duff's Business Institute and Penn Technical Institute, both of which have been closed for a long time after much needed exposure as corrupt. That building is now demolished, and something new is being built.

“Whenever u have too much of anything it devalues the brand” wat a profound statement

CNBC: Entry level luxury cars failed Audi A3: Am I a joke to you?

Meanwhile me driving an Audi A2, which was truly revolutionary vehicle of the time.

Here in Canada it worked for Acura with the Civic based EL and CSX. They sold well and got good reviews.

People "return to the brand" if the ownership experience lives up to their expectations. The biggest factor in the ownership experience in quality. I've owned Mercedes 300 CE and a Porsche Boxster, which represent the premium brand family. Both cars were maintained by the book and required expensive service to keep them operational (fixing things that did not work). I have since moved to Toyota (4Runner) and will never look back because the ownership experience has been excellent. I appreciate the premium brands, but the most important factor for me is that the vehicle stays on the road versus in the shop. I will return to the brand...

"Wasnt good enough to be a jaguar'...So it was dependable?

I bought a new 2002 Mercedes C230 coupe and loved it. Copper color with off white interior with options such as sunroof and 10-cd changer. Out the door $28k. Supercharged with 0 to 60 time of 6 seconds. Sold it after 2 years because I was moving to the N/E rust-belt. Have sorely missed it since.

I think BMW, Mercedes and any other luxury brand interested in expanding their customer base should do what the Japanese auto manufacturers did when they wanted to get into the luxury market and that is just create new brand names. Honda came up with Acura, Toyota makes Lexus and Nissan makes Infiniti. I realize that BMW also makes Mini and Mercedes Benz makes Smart and although they are generally cheaper than cars made by their parent companies, those vehicles are somewhat niche and don't really have the broad market appeal BMW and Mercedes seem to be looking for.

Everyone is missing the point of “brand” reputation. It was developed through, performance, engineering and quality that translated into longevity and long term value. The German luxury makers started messing up in the 2000s building cars that broke, and started throwing away their reputations.

A "coop" is what you keep chickens in, a "coo-pay" is a French name, no matter where you live.

I’ve been driving cadillacs since I was in my mid 20’s, I’m 40 now. my first was a used 90 sedan deville with 100k miles. Metallic blue with gray interior. Man I loved and miss that car. I have 3 cadillacs now, my oldest is a 69 sedan deville.

Why Mercedes and BMW totally failed in Greenland.

I stopped watching when he said "according to JD Powers"

Typical CNBC video 10 minutes and the title is never explained in the video. Oh, and the low end luxury cars are selling better than ever. The A and CLA classes are selling like cakes in Europe. Stupid vidoe.

When Benz bought Chrysler in '98 it was the beginning of the end of Mercedes being at the top of quality. Compare the interior switches, road feel, steering, aroma, and how doors close between a 70s or 80s Benz to post-Chrysler cars and you'll notice the differences and overall "cheapening". MB bean counters were given top billing and "unit volume" was the top priority along with production cost reduction. Benz learned and applied many cost saving "tricks" from Chrysler which not only reduced some of the car's quality but also brought down its image and exclusivity. The rest of the industry has caught up to MB in terms of quality and prestige and in some cases has surpassed them. The MB logo has significantly less status and value today than it did 25+ years ago.

Audi wasn't always a premium brand. In 1974 they introduced the small Audi 50, and the first VW Polo was a simplified Audi 50. The VW/Audi group then decided to use the Audi brand for mid-range to upper class cars and sell all the small cars under the VW brand. From 1999 to 2005 Audi sold a small car again, the A2 with aluminium body optimized for fuel economy, one of the first "3 liter cars" (consuming 3 liters on 100 km). But the price of that one was comparable to other larger cars with less high-tech, so it didn't sell well. The A1 sold since 2010 (based on the Polo platform again) isn't so much focused on super-economy but comfort and performance. The niche of low-energy cars is mostly being taken over by battery electrics.

They aren't failing because nobody wants to buy the cars (for the most part). They're failing because the cars are horribly unreliable and expensive to fix. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Aston-Martin, etc are notorious for being extremely unreliable cars and the depreciation, even on the "cheap cars" is just incredible. People who can afford to buy a $100k+ car aren't really too concerned with whether it's going to still run after five years. They want the latest and greatest and will pay for it. And after a few years, they'll just go buy another one; which is why the resale value of them is so abysmal. For us in the real world however, people who buy a $20-30k car aren't really too concerned about having such a status symbol. They want a reliable car, that's good on gas and doesn't break the bank when it does need maintenance/repairs. But luxury manufacturers don't seem to notice (or care) about this, and so the cars don't sell. If BMW offered a car that was similarly priced and just as reliable as a VW Golf, people would probably consider buying it. For me however, luxury car brands are really just too tacky for my taste.

The new CLA and A class sedan are doing very well actually. and they now look like any of the others in the benz family. but yeah, the previous models were not on par with the brand's premium status.

Ahhhhhh!! My VERY first car was a vintage 1988 BMW 535i. My first car I bought and paid for myself was a used 1998 BMW 318ti with a manual transmission. I was 19 and it was the funnest car ever! It was the reason I became BMW obsessed and sports cars in general. Then BMW took a downturn in 2005 and hasn’t made cars like they did up until 2004. I hope someday they will make cars for people who love driving again, sadly with discontinuation of the 3 pedal manual transmission, I do not see that happening.

These luxury car brands would do well to learn the lesson of Packard. Packard was once the premier luxury brand of the world. Packard was unmatched in terms of luxury, quality, innovation, engineering (does any of this sound familiar), and, of course, reputation. When the great depression hit in the 1930's Packard was forced to make a smaller, and for lack of a better word, more common car to stay in business. No on faulted Packard for doing this, you do what you have to do to survive, and they made some pretty good lower end cars. The problem was that Packard kept making lower end cars after the depression ended. This cheapened their reputation and ultimately was a big reason for them eventually going out of business. A real shame.

Scotty laughing 😂 in his 94 Celica

I got into BMW when I purchased my first 525i at 17, I'm now 25 and on my 3rd Bimmer and im never looking back.. once u taste luxury its hard to shake 😉

Been a while since I’ve enjoyed a proper documentary. Not bogus, direct & informative.

Failed because of maintenance in my opinion. I worked at Mercedes for about 4months. Almost every customers complaint was dealing with maintenance and how frequently they to bring their car in. Not sure if the car is reliable if you ask me 🤷🏾‍♂️

I am in the US and absolutely loved my Ti it was such a fun nimble little car put 200k miles on it.

The Mercedes C class presented here is actually successful. There are still many of C classes and the coupes on the road.

I always loved BMW but once they switched to electronic steering wheel in 2012, and made cars more generic to appeal to broader customers, it lost its title as "ultimate driving machine". Nowdays, you can get lost in their nomenclatures, from 2 series to X lines to M, to roadsters, the exclusivity is gone. Time to check out Porsche

The A class if it was released as the Sportback version like it is in Europe in the USA would have sold really well as a solid Golf competitor. Lots of people go out and buy the Golf. The RS4 hasn’t been in the US since 2009, but the avant version of a4 still sold well and the all road is still on sale. The GR corolla is well loved as well as selling really well. The Integra Type S, Civic Type R, all are good hatchbacks. Problem with trying to release a luxury car for the masses is that it inherently isn’t a luxury car anymore. Just create a separate lower tier brand like Toyota and Lexus or Honda and Acura. In MBs case they should spin off AMG again as a high end performance brand.

I SUMMON : SCOTTY KILMER!!!!

Americans cannot pronounce car names properly. Clarkson is right about that.

People don't want "budget" luxury products. Its like a budget iphone no one wants it.

European car makers: we r going to make cheap cars. Japanese to Europe: lol bro we r the best. Korea to Japan: I am on the way to beat u. China to Korea and Japan: hmmm. Noobs