LETTER OF THE MONTH

摘要

I am in my 80s and, having owned luxury sedans throughout my life, I found some of the latest features on the new Mercedes-Benz S550 ludicrous ('Advancing Luxury," August 2013). "Hot-stone-style massaging," "active perfuming system," "heated armrests," etc.? The big boys in the industry are feverishly trying to outdo each other, adding new, costly, and unnecessary gadgets, mostly to impress each other and the stockholders. Potential customers are far from impressed with the ever-increasing price tag. All that is missing, and I would not be surprised if their engineers have already considered it, is the latest Japanese "Toto toilet system" (I am not kidding) installed under one of the rear seats that automatically spray-cleans and blow-dries the passenger's undercarriage after he responds to a call of nature at, say, 150 mph. "Up, up, and away we go!" or "Hi, ho, silver!"