Mercedes Benz, on the other hand, seems to hire a new team of designers every couple years, with the primary qualification being that they’ve never paid attention to previous models. There is little, if any, family resemblance between models, or from generation to generation. There used to be a “Mercedes Benz” look that every model had in common, but that hasn’t been the case for at least a decade. As a result, I often seen new MB’s on the road, and confuse them for a variety of other cars until I’m close enough to realize it’s a Benz.

I’m not saying that the lack of a unifying & lasting style among Mercedes Benz’s lineup is reason enough not to buy one, but it does result in giving the company a rather bland reputation. I’d lump Mercedes Benz in with Lexus and Acura in terms of desirability. They’re very nice, but it’s a very generic and unexciting sort of nice. BMW, on the other hand, celebrates its history with every car that rolls out of the factory. As a result, there is more passion for BMW’s these days than MB’s.

Granted, this CL550 is beautiful, but does it really look like a Mercedes Benz, other than the logo in the grill? If this car had a Lexus badge, would you say “Wow that Lexus looks like a Benz”, or would you say “Wow, nice Lexus”? My guess is that your reaction would be closer to the latter.