Mercedes-AMG Reportedly Hops on Anti-Flipping Bandwagon with Project ONE
Mercedes is cracking down on Project ONE buyers who will immediately sell the car for profit.
Mercedes-AMG has joined the growing roster of manufacturers that want to take the fight to car scalpers, in order to make sure its all-new Project ONE hypercar falls into the right hands. While all 275 Project ONEs have already been sold, Mercedes is putting methods in place to make sure every buyer has no intention of immediately selling the hypercar for profit, reports Auto Motor und Sport.
According to the report, customers must first pay a down payment to be able to score a build slot. The Project ONE's purchasing agreement will also include several anti-flipping clauses that buyers must adhere to. After the purchase is made, Mercedes will scour different sales websites to see if the car or build reservation has been sold.
The report doesn't mention what these terms are or what happens when someone violates them, but says Mercedes will take a similar approach to Ford's policy on flipping. Ford recently settled a lawsuit with actor and wrestler John Cena for breaching the Ford GT supercar's contract, which stated that Cena could not sell the car for 24 months...which he disobeyed.
Before these reported "anti-speculative" measures were introduced, a listing for a Project ONE's build slot was posted online for almost double the car's original $2.7 million asking price. The advertisement has since been deleted but it's obvious that scalpers are continuing to set their sights on limited-production hypercars like the Project ONE.
We've reached out to Mercedes-Benz to ask what the anti-flipping clauses of the Project ONE's purchasing agreement are and will update with more information when we hear back.
In the meantime, Mercedes' upcoming 1,000 horsepower, Formula 1-inspired hypercar has been spotted testing at racetracks in England and Spain. Deliveries are expected to start at the beginning of 2019.
