Over at autoextemist.com, my colleague Peter DeLorenzo often rails against what he considers the democratization of luxury. The point being that in the automotive world, there once was a notion of what luxury meant, and that tended to have more than a little something to do with the notion of exclusivity, not everybody.
One of DeLorenzo’s targets in this regard is Mercedes. As he wrote last November: “Let’s not forget that once upon a time, when it wasn’t so obsessed with being the all things to all people car company that it is today, Mercedes-Benz was considered to be a maker of exclusive luxury cars. That was back in the day of the imperious – and perfectly rendered – ad theme ‘Engineered Like No Other Car in the World,’ which came with the belief that driving a Mercedes was truly something special and was coveted by the well-heeled who could actually afford one and the rest of us with aspirations of wheeling that level of luxury some day.â€
That criticism came to mind when I saw an option that Mercedes is offering to its German customers of the new C-Class, the “Air-Balance†package. This package consists of an air filter, ionizer and a “fragrance system.â€
Said system is based on 15-ml glass flasks of scent. The available fragrances are “Freeside Mood,†“Nightlife Mood,†“Downtown Mood,†and “Sports Mood.†They are housed in the glovebox, then wafted into the interior of the car.
As this is a Mercedes C-Class, it seems somewhat downmarket. But then it should be noted that a similar system is available for the S-Class, and that car is nothing but upscale.
But all in all, I can’t help but think of this.
