The eternal duel between BMW and Mercedes-Benz
Every year, it seems, the motoring press reports on the resurgence of the Mercedes-Benz versus BMW duel. When the Bavarians present a new Siebner, as they have just done, the top dog from Stuttgart (the S-Class) is seen to be in danger. This apparent arms race has a long tradition, although the two manufacturers have not always competed so intensively with each other. Mercedes-Benz had just as little to offer against the BMW Isetta of the fifties as it did against the BMW 700, and BMW gave up the luxury segment after the end of the BMW 502, which still competed with the 300-series star (W 186), only to reoccupy it many years later with the Siebner.
BMW really entered the duel with the New Class and, above all, the five-seater, where there was clearly direct competition from Mercedes, while the Stuttgart-based company left the lower car classes to the Munich-based company for decades. Until they then introduced the baby Benz (190/190E, W201) in 1982. Since then, the battle in the mid-size class has flared up again every time a new model is launched by either manufacturer, and the motoring press never tires of investigating whether Mercedes has now managed to match the sporty dynamics of the three-seater or whether BMW can now keep up with the comfort benchmarks of the C-Class.
Today, the two manufacturers are battling it out in practically every class, from small cars to luxury SUVs, from compact saloons to sports convertibles. However, they have hardly ever remained alone as the top dogs, because Audi, Jaguar, Opel, Volkswagen or the Japanese, depending on the segment, have long been shaking up the former duel, but the rivalry between the BMW propeller and the Mercedes star is still the main focus of the press. To be continued ...
