Despite a cool critical reception, the Mercedes-Benz CLA has been difficult for dealers to keep in stock. The company plans to fix that soon and expects sales to boom as a result.
Speaking to Automotive News at Mercedes’ Alabama plant, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said it’s increasing the allocation of CLAs for the U.S. as the car stays on dealers’ lots an average fewer than 10 days, versus the industry norm of 60.
Zetsche claims had U.S. Mercedes dealers had the right inventory, the company “could have sold twice as many.”
The CLA has sold fewer than 16,000 units in the first eight months of 2014, despite starting off strong when it was launched a year ago. Meanwhile, rival Audi A3 is hot on its heels despite just having gone on sale this spring. Sales in August, however, were double what they were in May this year, although far less than in the last three months of 2013.
But if more inventory is the only problem, then it will be interesting to see how the CLA fares against the A3, as well as the newly redesigned and pushed upmarket 2015 C-Class.
By Zac Estrada
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