I was rewatching Exhibit by Leningrad (super hilarious music video), and noticed that the protagonist specifically mentions Mercedes in a list of material luxuries--which struck me as interesting, since Americans seem to sing about a number of Italian car manufacturers instead.
Curious, I tried googling, and found that Daimler-Benz opened a dealership in Belyaevo, Moscow in 1992. Now, I'd imagine anyone rich enough to own a Mercedes in the late '80s and early '90s would've been rich enough to import one already. So who were the people buying from the dealership in 1992? Were they first-time buyers? Did they pay in cash or credit? (How did one secure credit anyway in those days?) Was it associated with a certain demographic (beyond rich, I mean)? How well-known was the brand to your average Muscovite? To, say, someone from Chelyabinsk?
Thanks in advance for any answers!
Now, I'd imagine anyone rich enough to own a Mercedes in the late '80s and early '90s would've been rich enough to import one already.
Sorry, but no.
Importing cars under Soviet regime was strictly state-regulated.
Especially when imports were from non-Warsaw Pact countries. Besides most of the imports from Western countries were not passenger cars, but heavy-load trucks.
So you must be high-profile official to freely import a Mercedes or similar car. Even Brezhnev, who collected a lot of US and European cars, got them 'as a gift' - he didn't bought a single one.
And 1992 is a next year after USSR fell apart so borders were opened and import restrictions (most if not all) were removed as well, opening up the possibility to import goods into post-Soviet Union countries.