I stopped respecting Mercedes engineering when they (and the others) were caught cheating (x2) on emissions. IMHO, they all had a better chance to compete with Tesla, but they took the path of cheating and global pollution.
Statute of limitations did not apply. All crimes were scrubbed by Western govts and forgotten by Western media. Remember legacy auto pays for most ads during news broadcasts
https://jalopnik.com/mercedes-may-have-been-caught-using-def...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_emissions_scandal#Merce...