Auto Bavaria 'Cari Pasal' With Mercedes-Benz Malaysia
Auto NewsAuto Bavaria, the official distributor of BMW in Malaysia has published a social media post on Facebook with a 'cari pasal' caption directed at the competition, in this case, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia.
With an image of what appears to be the Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 in the side-view mirror of what we presume to be a BMW X5 xDrive45e (its direct competitor), the social media post goes on to say 'Take pride in your BMW. Afterall, we are always ahead'.
We'll ignore how Auto Bavaria spelt Afterall as one word for now but the question I suppose worth asking is how exactly is BMW always ahead? Are we talking head-to-head performance of the BMW X5 xDrive45e vs Mercedes-Benz GLE 450?
| No. | Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 | BMW X5 xDrive 45e |
| Price | RM 475,501 | RM440,745 |
| Engine | 3.0-litre turbo six-cylinder petrol aided by EQ Boost mild hybrid system | 3.0-litre turbo six-cylinder petrol with eDrive hybrid system |
| Transmission | 9-speed 9G-Tronic | 8-speed Steptronic |
| Drivetrain | All Wheel Drive | All Wheel Drive |
| Fuel Economy | 9.3L/100km (combined) | 9.1L/100km (combined) |
| Horsepower | 362hp + 22hp EQ Boost | 394hp |
| Torque | 500 + 250 Nm EQ Boost | 600Nm |
| 0-100 km/h | 5.7 Seconds | 5.6 Seconds |
| Seating Capacity | 7 | 5 |
| Wheels | 21" AMG multi-spoke light-alloy wheels | 20" M light-alloy wheels in Star-Spoke |
| Suspension | AIRMATIC adaptive suspension | 2-Axle air suspension |
| Airbags | 7 | 6 |
| Driving Assistance Systems | Active Distance Distronic, Lane Tracking, Blind Spot Assist, Active Lane Keeping Assist, Tyre Pressure Monitoring System and a 360-degree camera for all-round visibility | Active Cruise Control, Lane departure warning and lane change warning, Front Collision Warning with brake intervention, Rear cross-traffic collision alert and prevention, Heads-up Display, Surround view camera, Parking Assist Plus With Reverse Assistant |
Now if you look at the side-by-side comparison above, the X5 is barely ahead at all, let alone being always ahead. Of course, the GLE-X5 could be a metaphor for sales figures or TIV? But Mercedes-Benz Malaysia has stopped reporting their monthly sales numbers to MAA as they are of the belief that a more accurate reporting and assessing of TIV (total industry volume) is to have it based on total cars registered via the road transport department or JPJ. This has been MBM's stand since the second quarter of 2020.
Or we could be reading too much into this and it's all tongue-in-cheek by Auto Bavaria, if that is so then will MBM come up with a reply?
Who remembers when Honda Malaysia did something similar to Toyota during the promotional campaign for the all-new Honda City?
But when it's all said and done, when PDRM comes rolling by, Semua Stop!