The accountants took over managing the Mercedes (Daimler-Benz) company
from the engineers in the mid-1990s.  There is no better example of
the decline in manufacturing standards than comparing the W124
E Series with its 1996 W210 successor.

I suggest the last nine years, since 1998, when Daimler-Benz merged
with Chrysler, have been the worst.  Bringing Chrysler's "low costs",
in other words "low standards", to the manufacture of Mercedes cars
has been a disaster.  Thankfully, Chrysler has gone now, and there is
a strong drive to restore Mercedes quality.