Mercedes escapes A-Class crash with minor damage

By John Aglionby

MERCEDES-BENZ's reputation in Indonesia as a manufacturer of safe, reliable cars has not been affected by the public relations disaster blighting the company over failure of its new A-class to pass certain safety tests in Europe.

PT Star Motors Indonesia president director Frank Messer said: "Of course we would have preferred if nothing had happened, but it is better it happened now and not later.

"People did ring us when they heard about it but the accident happened in an extreme situation that would never occur in this country, and the company has already taken steps to rectify the situation."

The embarrassment the "Baby Benz" suffered was to overturn at only 60 km/h while a Swedish motoring magazine was conducting a "moose-avoidance test". This involves swerving to avoid an object, such as a moose, crossing an icy road.

Mercedes spent five years and almost US$1.5 billion developing the car, putting it through almost 500 million kilometers of tests, but not the moose-avoidance test.

The result, apart from bruised reputations and shattered egos within the company, has been a bill of about $175 million to redesign much of the car.

Messer said: "When it goes on sale again the A-class will have new suspension, with a lower chassis, wider tires and the electronic stability program (ESP) as standard. This means it will not only be safe, but by far the best car in its class."

The ESP is a system where sensors read the rotational speed and forces through each wheel to apply brakes or kill engine speed to prevent dramatic swerves.

Much of the reason for the minimal negative impact here, Messer admitted, was because Mercedes was only planning to initially bring about a dozen of the cars into the Indonesia so "opinion leaders could see what it was all about". That has been postponed until the A-class has proven itself in Europe.

Star Motors has just brought in 35 SLKs, its sporty two-seater with a retractable hardtop roof and a supercharged 2.3-liter engine. However, Messer said people should not flock showrooms looking for one as they have all been sold.

"We had the opportunity to bring in only a few -- 35 in all-- and they have all been sold. We will try again next year but not at the moment. It seems the government is not in favor of having too many of such cars here all at once."

The problem with the SLK is that it is essentially a sports car, which are banned in Indonesia.

Messer stressed there should not be such problems when he imports the CLK next year. "This is a very different kind of car. It has two doors, like the SLK, but is a four-seater so does not seem like a sports car.

"I am confident we will be able to bring it in and assemble it at our plant here."

Earlier this month the company also quietly launched its C230 station wagon, called a hatchback here, to take on Volvo's V70. This was imported in Semi-Knocked Down form.

Only 48 units are available nationwide before Christmas, but if they sell well -- at Rp 178 million ($48,000) off the road -- Star Motors plans to bring in more next year.