5
NEWS
A3 to E-Class in 15 years
Buying a Benz E-Class will soon be as easy as buying an Audi A3 in 1999Would it surprise you to learn that both the BMW 3 Series and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class outsell the Volkswagen Passat in Australia?
In fact, with both the prestige models in the medium car segment notching up sales between 5000 and 6000 units for the year – with one month still to go – the BMW and Benz have each sold 2000 units more than the VW.
What it points to is this: Prestige is affordable these days.
The graph shown here builds on our previous article, but this time concentrating on prestige models up to $100,000.
Taking three indicative German prestige cars, the graph tracks the pricing of the cheapest Audi A3 in each series (red line) from its local introduction in 1997, the BMW 3 Series (green line) based on an entry-level manual variant trimmed to Executive grade or similar, and the base-grade variant of Mercedes E-Class. The blue line trending upwards in the graph is the median Australian wage since 1994. Of the four data series, only the average wage in Australia shows a steady upward climb.
Readers can interpret this either of two ways: We're paying ourselves more than we can afford, or the not-so-little luxuries of life are getting progressively cheaper. Either argument could lead people down different paths of logic.
Consumer goods in general are cheaper over time – none more so than the oft-mentioned flat-screen TV. That's a global phenomenon, not just an Australian experience. It tends to support the view that manufactured goods of all kinds are more affordable than ever, and that has to be a consequence of improving design, manufacturing and logistical efficiencies.
But the graph equally indicates a local standard of living untrammelled by recession since the early 1990s – something unheard of throughout the rest of the developed world. Our wages haven't been slowed by significant economic upheavals felt elsewhere.
Whatever you read into the figures (with average income courtesy of the Australian Bureau of statistics, and the new vehicle pricing and stats from Redbook), the conclusion is the same... Australians can afford to be social climbers these days.
What the graph doesn't show is the remarkable leaps in technology over the past 20 years. Not only do the cars of today cost less, they offer considerably more. The Benz E220 of 1994 was shorter, narrower and produced 110kW and 210Nm for a fuel consumption figure of 7.9L/100km. In contrast, the E200 of 2013 develops 135kW and 300Nm, but uses 6.4L/100km. It performs better and offers a larger package – but admittedly weighing 230kg more for its extra 150mm of length.
The story is the same for both the BMW 3 series and Audi A3. In 1996 the 318i Limited was physically smaller and performance was constrained by the 85kW/168Nm engine, yet the official fuel consumption was 7.2L/100km. Today's 320i, with its turbocharged 2.0-litre engine, develops 135kW and 270Nm, yet consumes just 6.3L/100km – despite the larger dimensions and added 125kg of kerb mass.
In the case of the A3, the power is not far removed – which is hardly surprising, given the peak power of 74kW in 1997 was for a 1.6-litre petrol engine, versus 77kW for a 1.6-litre diesel. But where torque was 145Nm, for the diesel it's 250Nm. And importantly, fuel consumption has been halved... 3.9L/100km now, versus 8.0L/100km in '97. Today's five-door Sportback is cheaper than the entry-level 1.6-litre three-door in 1997, and is over 150mm longer and not quite 70mm wider. As for the other two cars, there's a weight penalty for progress – 1280kg, up 155kg since 1997.
Where does the weight come from? Some of it is clearly good old fashioned sheet metal, although that is also largely offset by the move to exotic alloys and high-strength steels, to deliver stronger bodies and vastly improved crash safety.
A lot of the weight gain is down to added or uprated standard features. In the case of the two E-Class models, the E200 of 2013 has seven gears, versus four for the E220. 17-inch wheels are standard, in lieu of 15-inch alloys for the 1994 Benz. There are plenty more airbags in the E200 than there were in the E220, the audio system has 10 speakers in 2013, and the audio system has its own hard drive and incorporates satellite navigation.
Of course there are also features that add incrementally to the car's kerb weight, but are significant for the cumulative benefits they offer. These include the LED lighting throughout the E200, or features like Bluetooth, advanced stability control, reversing camera and parking sensors, voice recognition, active cruise control, rain-sensing wipers, tyre pressure sensors – and all the rest.
The most expensive car in the world didn't provide that level of equipment back in 1994.
That's why, in 2013, the average Australian can now afford to pay off a Holden Caprice within the space of one year – but more buyers would rather wait a few extra months for a Benz E-Class.
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Written byKen Gratton
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