Mercedes-Benz South Africa Complaint

SUPPLIER	Mercedes-Benz South...	INDUSTRY	Motor
BRANCH / AREA	Mercedes Benz Century City	COUNTRY	South Africa
TIME / DATE	01:07 Thu 9 Feb	PERSON RESPONSIBLE	Mr Steven Crittall
CUSTOMER	threeowls	View all reports by user	0 1
PROBLEM	Fooling the public	Post this report to your Facebook page Post this report to your Twitter page
INCIDENT	Wed 8 Feb
HEADLINE	Mercedes Benz SA marketing intends to fool public
In 2009 I purchased a new, 'facelift' MB ML 320 CDI. At the time I was not informed that the model number was to change later in the year. It did... to an ML 350 CDI. At the time of the change, there was little price difference, because technically the two models were identical. MBSA did not advertise this fact, hoping that the public would think the engine capacity had increased to 3,5 litre. In point of fact, the ML 320 CDI & ML 350 CDI have the identical engine, which is a 3 litre machine. Now, three years later, when one thinks about changing cars, it is customary to check the value of pre-owned vehicles. It comes as a huge shock to discover that 1. There is no listing for a 2009 ML 320 CDI & 2. That the difference in price between a 2008 ML 320 CDI & 2009 ML 350 CDI is R150 000. MBSA claims no reponsibilty, as does the dealership, when this is clearly a case of marketing trickery. Does such a well established organisation stoop so low to increase sales, with no added value to the product? It seems that they do & have done. Does Mercedes Benz world wide know what has happened here and/or are they behind what is tantamount to *****? We aim to find out!! Add a new Mercedes-Benz South Africa Report Inappropriate report?