That I humbly disagree with. The W211 (2003-2009) was when QC started to pick back up, and the W212 (2010-2015.5) was as good as the W211 and only built up on the 211’s excellence. The W212 was and still is as solid and stout of a luxury mid-sized saloon as they came. The W213 isn’t bad, as it was still decent, but the W212 was the cream of the crop for modern E classes. There was a moment when MB started emphasizing quality again (the period being 2010-2019~ish), though they have gone back to cost-cutting and overcomplicating for the sake of modernizing.

It’s sad to see what’s come of them as a brand. There used to be that point of time when MB legitimately lived up to their name of offering the beyond the BEST or nothing.

For the record, our '19 MY GLC300 is doing well at nearly 60k miles. It’s not as big a benchmark or something to write home about, but it’s been doing well. I believe that the X253 chassis GLC (2015-2022) got more solid later in its production run, and the X254 (2023-onward) is still relatively new but way more complicated with the digital everything interior and more of everything, in my opinion.

Well, first things first, don’t cut costs heavily to the point where you’re sacrificing profits and, eventually, the VW company’s well-being in the long term and as much as the accounting dept. won’t like the sound of this: Invest more into quality—especially the fit and finish/materials used.

THEN,

- Invest in the science of innovating, as while it may be costly, it can pay off as long as it’s done correctly. Innovation gives a company a serious competitive advantage. Try new things and let the engineers do the talking. Be ahead of that game.

- Make your cars feel like they’re worth the money, both on the inside and out. Focus on offering genuinely great vehicles with a solid bang for the buck. VW should refrain from overpricing and acting like they can command near-Audi money on some of their products. It’s a shame the Touareg (in the US) and Phaeton turned out the way they did. Great products that are otherwise let down by Audi-esque pricing. Also, make unique, genuinely fun & interesting offerings, as those are what draw more people into the brand, like the ID Buggy and whatnot. Bring back the Beetle as an Easy-to-work, stylish EV. Focus on value and punching above the weight. You guys are Volkswagen, after all, the people’s car.

- Don’t put all the eggs in the BEV basket, as the market for BEVs is uncertain. Still continue to experiment and develop alongside ICE powertrains. Focus on hybridization if need be.

- Design cars with more classiness and character in the exterior. Hire a fusion of talent and have them experiment. I suggest outsourcing the design to talent like Ian Callum or even ex-Bugatti designer Sasha Selipanov. Encourage and effectively use more talent.

- Make your interiors warm and comfortable, lovely places to be in. Your interiors should be ergonomically friendly, with no haptic buttons and slider control BS. Simple, genuinely well-built interiors that will stand the test of time.

- Do what Subaru is doing and eliminate markups, overpricing, and ADMs, which mainly turn off buyers from any brand.

Whenever they do something unique it ends up worse than the competitors see 911.

Is that why the 911 has been one of the sports car benchmarks of all time? Is that why the 911 has been one of the most successful sports cars in the field of motorsports, ranging from Le Mans to Dakar and beyond? Besides, there’s a lot more to a sports car than spec sheets or focusing on one aspect of a car and not acknowledging what makes a sports car great in the other aspects.

Is that why Apple was known for the McIntosh and literally beat everyone to the punch with the first-ever smartphone?

I still remember the 996 days when Porsche decided to place a little more emphasis on peoples’ opinions and decided to try something new with the 996 chassis 911’s design, and out came the fried-egg headlamps, and everyone moaned and whined. I still thought it was great on its own. For the record, Porsche still could’ve played it safe by staying with the pre-facelift design with little changes, and people still hate it.

For the record, they’re still FAR better than BMW right now…

Sorry! I had other pictures that far better illustrated my point, but it seems like the Mods weren’t in approval…

IMO, the TT is that car that, while it may not be for everyone, has a level of style to it that you can’t hate. Especially the Mk1s! Menacing when built right but fairly graceful and innocent otherwise…

I’m still amused by how classy, beautiful, yet simply graceful the Mk1 TT baseball glove-style interiors have aged.

Honestly, as unpopular as I will sound right now, I feel this whole Italians doing the “drama” thing and whatever some car fans call “soulful” or “emotional” and calling Germans “boring” is a bit too exaggerated. Yeah, even as a die-hard Porsche person, I harbor love towards the Ferrari V12, but to outright call a Porsche or any relative German sports car “boring” or “soulless” is an overused trope, be it in exhaust sound, design, etc. IMHO. Personally, anyone who calls an R8 (particularly the OG) boring is just talking out of their rear end.

Regarding sound, I’ll give the benefit of the doubt towards anything turbo as Turbocharged engines aren’t known for sound. However, engines like the N/A 4.0L Flat 6 (even those in the RSR cup cars), certain V8s (older GTS models and even the 918), the older race car engines like the Flat 8 and 12, V10, etc. are all some incredibly special engines created by Porsche. The driving experience is also unique and special in its own regard.

For Design, Porsche has always preferred being understated. I personally find that an appealing quality to Porsche at a time when many folks prefer Italian exotics for the brand name and flexing the status alone.

Seriously, the S85 is one badass engine! Sure, it may not be perfect, but that sound wipes away any drawbacks that engine has! This gets me thinking how in alternate universe, imagine if BMW gave the S65/S85 duo another go with refreshed internals and a little bit of hybrid assistance. That would definitely be something special!