Mercedes escapes A-Class crash with minor damage

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.