Buying a Mercedes during the Pandemic: folly or wise?

With the pandemic squeezing the throats of businesses like a vise, a vaccine still months away, and the next paycheck uncertain, you would have to be brain-dead to even consider buying a car right now. The Voice of reason tells us to take it easy on our wallets and focus on essentials such as food and rent. 

But what if we’re missing the bigger picture?

Let’s look at how two office supplies companies handled the recession of the 2000s. Staples shut down some underperforming stores and contained its operating costs, but it also hired 10 per cent more workers, using them to roll out some new high-end services.

Meanwhile, Staples’ archrival, Office Depot, cut its workforce by 6 per cent in a purely defensive move. 

The differences in approach showed up on the bottom line 3 years later: Staples was about 30 per cent more profitable than Office Depot. Combining a defensive and offensive approach proved to be the superior strategy.

Merc, Merc, Merc, Merc, Merc

So what the heck does stationary have to do with buying a new Mercedes? The answer is nigh’ my friend. With car manufacturers under more pressure to sell than ever, some of them roll out truly great deals. For instance, Mercedes-Benz recently announced a new initiative, promoting virtual showrooms. The benefits include:

• No upfront payment, with first installment postponed until 2021.

• 0% finance rate, guaranteed buybacks, complimentary insurance, window tinting, and registration.

• 5-year or 105,000 km warranty / 4-year or 60,000 km Integrated Service Package

• Free home test drives and delivery, free pick-up and drop-off for cars in need of service.

Most customers will probably ignore this offer and play it safe, biding their time for when the economy recovers. I mean, it’s the logical thing to do, right?

But hold on a minute. Such ‘logic’ doesn’t take into account that by that time car manufactures will factor the surge in demand into their pricing. Yikes…

Be smarter about your money. Take advantage of limited time offers. You will win in the long term.

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