Mercedes GLC 43AMG vs Porsche Macan S

Previously we had the hot hatch battle where all the ultra powerful hatchback cars would compete in the horsepower war. All of it started with the Golf Gti, then came the Renault Megan Cup, BMW 1 series, Audi S3, Ford Focus RS and finally the Mercedes A45 AMG. Now the battle has moved on to the medium sized SUVs like the Mercedes GLC, Porsche Macan, Audi Q5 and the Volvo XC60.

Porsche being Porsche all their cars are sports oriented and the Macan is like a baby Cayenne with decent engine power. To cater for a wider audience Porsche has several engine choices such as the 2.0 turbo, then the 3.0 turbo and the 3.6 turbo variants. Little did Porsche realise that Mercedes now have a contender in the form of the GLC43 AMG. Like any AMG model Mercedes, the car will come with serious performance which is what the AMG engines are known for. Mercedes took the fight to Porsche with this model by going one up on them with a 3.0 V6 twin turbo pushing out a heavy 361hp and 520Nm of torque. this figure is enough to push the car to 100km/h in 4.9 seconds. This performance figure beats the Porsche Macan S but is slightly slower than the Macan Turbo. Mercedes is clever in coming out with this model as it will definitely steal some Porsche sales since the price tag is expected to be lower than the Macan S loaded with the same options.

Porsche has a tendency to provide bare cars and options are part of the customising experience when you purchase the car but this pushes the prices up significantly and often adding optional accessories or functions will inflate the cost of the car by 25% to 30%. Mercedes on the other hand will load the GLC 43AMG with enough accessories and functions to make it a bargain when compared to the Macan S. Having said that, Porsche fans will still be Porsche fans and the badge itself will generate sales without too much effort. The battle will be for those fence sitters who are unsure about which car to go for and the extra value from the Mercedes can be the tipping point.

On paper the Mercedes beats the Porsche is almost every segment from horsepower (GLC 361hp vs Macan S 340hp), torque (GLC 520Nm vs Macan S 435Nm), acceleration (GLC 4.9 sec vs Macan S 5.2 sec). the other point is that the Mercedes comes with the AMG exhaust which sounds a lot sportier and will fart when you lift off the throttle. Mercedes put a lot of thought into this car to make it a real challenger to the luxury mid sized SUV segment.
Depending on the price difference between the two cars, if the gap is big enough Mercedes will definitely steal some Porsche customers.

Perodua Bezza vs Proton Persona

The battle between Proton and Perodua is heating up with Perodua introducing their first sedan model in Malaysia which puts tremendous pressure on Proton. Proton has traditionally produced low end sedan models which has been popular due to its price but ever since Perodua entered the market more than a decade ago Proton's dominance has gradually been eroded away. Perodua mainly focused on small hatchbacks until now. The original intention was not to compete head on with Proton. The sales of the new Perodua Bezza caught Proton by surprise and they didn't expect the Bezza will give it such a hard time when it came to the new Persona sales. Proton claims 4000 bookings for the Persona but when one talks to a Proton dealers all will complain that no one is buying it. It appears that the handful of bookings are often rejected because the buyer is unable to secure the loan for the purchase of the car. It is very likely that the claimed 4000 bookings are a mixture of genuine buyers and people who wrote their name down for a test drive and those who just signed a visitor registration book in an attempt to create more market confidence.

The confidence in any model introduced by Proton is at its lowest. Despite trying to revamp its image, many Malaysian buyers are shying away from Proton as they feel betrayed in the past and the quality of their cars have gone from bad to worse. Proton's demise looks very likely to take place. Proton's last hope is the new upcoming Saga replacement which is the entry level model. About 50% of Proton sales is from the Saga model. If this model doesn't sell well, Proton will need to shut down. The Saga is aimed at value, as cheap as a Perodua Axia but bigger in size.

Many Malaysian consumers are sick and tired of Proton's attitude thinking that it will be bailed out by the Government. Proton has not aimed for quality nor attempt to win back the customer's confidence. Their TUV campaign years ago did nothing for their image. The damage was done from early days but during that time they had little competition and did not care about progress. As we all know there is no such thing as standing still in business and no one is too big to fail but Proton thinks like that. This is where rot starts to begin coupled with entrenched corruption at every level which ultimately forces the cost of the car to increase. With such issues, Proton is unable to be competitive and be profitable at the same time.

Perodua on the other hand is run like a Japanese company and is properly structured to be cost efficient and produce cars that people will buy. They also lean heavily on Daihatsu Japan for technical assistance and advice to progress with each model they introduce. Perodua cars are here to stay and will be the main competitor for Proton until Proton's demise.