With a crop of new car museums, German auto makers are trading
like never before on their historical image as makers of top quality, precision
vehicles.
The new Mercedes Museum -- a temple for car worshippers
When German Chancellor Angela Merkel sits down in a blue
Mercedes Simplex from 1902 for a photo op Friday at the opening of the new
Mercedes Benz museum in Stuttgart, it may well be a first: the head of state of
one of the world’s most powerful nations playing ribbon-cutter at an industrial
museum.
But Merkel’s planned appearance simply goes to underscore the
importance of the automobile industry to the German economy -- and to the
country’s overall image as a maker of quality machinery.
With the possible exception of beer, it is hard to think of
another product so closely tied to the country’s history and reputation. Yet it
is no secret that German carmakers are facing difficult times, losing market
share to cheaper Asian and US models.
The new museum's architecture combines a sense of stasis and
motion
The new, 150 million euro ($191 million) Mercedes Benz museum is
the latest example of the industry’s recent push to honor its history -- and
some would say shore up its image -- by investing in a showpiece property.
But Merceds Benz is by no means alone. Porsche will open a
flashy new museum in Stuttgart next year, quadrupling its current exhibition
space. And BMW is erecting BMW World in Munich, a shrine to its own image that
is expected to cost 100 million euros. The space will allow visitors to “see,
feel, hear smell, taste BMW,” according to a brochure.
Meanwhile, VW set the standard for car-culture-combination
marketing by building the theme-park-like Autosatdt (Car City) in Wolfsburg in 2002. The Autostadt has a “museum of
automobility,” hands-on learning labs, and a children’s activity center, and
hosts contemporary art exhibits and avant-garde theatrical performancees.
Then there's the “glass factory” VW opened in Dresden in 2001.
It, too, treads a thin line between industry and culture, offering hands on,
interactive exhibits for adults and children who come to marvel at the
building's architecture and observe the assembly of Phaeton luxury cars. The
facility is also used after hours for theater performances.
All about image
But why do German car companies seem determined to drop big sums
into high-priced show properties, even amid layoffs, cutbacks, and falling
sales figures?
Exterior view of VW's "glass factory" in Dresden
“That’s easy,” said Markus Betz, the museum designer who created
the exhibition space for the Mercedes Benz museum and is currently at work on
the Porsche museum as well. “There is less and less difference between the
premium automobile brands in terms of quality and technology, so they have to
differentiate themselves that much more in terms of image."
“European carmakers have a longer history than those in the
American or Asian market. A favorite saying is, "There's no future without
ancestry’,” Betz said. “Mercedes is special because Daimler Benz was there from
the beginning of the history of cars. There is no phase in the history of the
automobile that Mercedes didn’t influence or write.”
Writing automotive history
Perched right on the edge of a busy highway in Stuttgart, the
museum was computer-designed in concrete-chic by cutting-edge Dutch architect
Ben van Berkel. A visit starts at the top of the eight-story museum, with an
exhibit on the invention of the gas-powered automobile by Gottlieb Daimler and
Karl Benz, in 1886.
Mercedes helped write automobile history
A visitor can then continue though 120 years of automobile
history by following the trail of the chronologically organized “legend” rooms
(Room 1: 1886 to 1900, The Birth of the Automobile; Room 4: 1945-1960, Postwar
Miracle, etc.) At the same time, he or she can check out a series of
thematically organized "collection" rooms (Gallery of the Carriers,
showing commercial transport vehicles throughout the ages; Gallery of
Celebrities, featuring cars that once belonged to the likes of Princess Diana,
Ringo Starr, and Japan’s Emperor Hirohito.)
While the Mercedes exhibit was an exercise in showing the
interplay between a car and an entire culture, Betz said the Porsche museum
poses another challenge. "Its more about just showing this sports car, and
finding a way to make that interesting "not just for the husband, but for
the wife and kids who might have been forced to come along."
They go way back: Merkel and Mercedes in 2003
It is hard to know whether the image boost from such extravagant
marketing campaigns will actually pay off. But one thing is certain: German car
museums are immensely popular. The old Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart had about
450,000 visitors a year, more than any other museum in the city. The Autodstadt
in Wolfsburg has had 12 million visitors since it opened, and BMW World is
predicting 850,000 visitors a year.
Meanwhile, Betz admitted that he was “astonished” when he heard
Chancellor Merkel would attend the museum opening. Now, however, he has come to
see her visit as “a sign of recognition for what Mercedes did for the German
public” at its own costs.
Image counts more heavily when models are technically similar
“Its not a museum whose end goal is to have people just go sign
a contract for a new Mercedes; it is an important addition to the technical
museum landscape of the country,” Betz said.
And more than that, he said, Merkel is supporting Mercedes' vote
of confidence for Germany as a manufacturing country.
“Even though Asians are making luxury cars, German car makers
are saying, ‘Hey folks, look at us. We are looking toward the future.’,"
Betz said.
"It
is Mercedes saying, ‘Don’t crawl back into your hole. We need to show what we
can do.’”
