Journalism

Mercedes is a diligent reporter — and she reports in ways I’ve found notable, finding sources on Instagram and conducting interviews by DM as well as more traditional calls and emails. Her ideas — and this is catnip to editors these days — also tend to have strong visual elements. She even provides photos when it’s not feasible for us to get a photographer sent out.

Mercedes brought creative and thoughtful coverage ideas to Wheels — honestly, writing about cultural events and people who don’t tend to get a lot of ink or pixels in The Times, and our coverage was better for it. This was evident in the strong traffic numbers her stories attracted. For auto coverage, travel stories and beyond, Mercedes brings a lot to the table.

Mercedes is a consummate professional. When I hire her to write a story, I am confident that she will represent my magazine well to story subjects and to anyone she contacts on our behalf. From my perspective, I know she’s going to deliver the story that was assigned, on time and at the required length. Further, I know that it’s going to be well-crafted and entertaining, with a confident and professional voice. If you’ve worked in this industry for any length of time, you know how rare and valuable that is. I would hire Mercedes without a second thought any time I needed a leading feature story, accurate technical piece, or just a news brief.

Mercedes gets our brand and our customer base because she lives it day in and day out. Her attention to detail and communication skills for managing our social media channels consistently exceed expectations. Mercedes has also been able to grow our social media platform organically over the last five years and identify several areas of growth opportunity which continue to add significant value to our overall company.

I have had the pleasure of working with Mercedes a number of times over the last five years. Firstly, as general manager of Long Range America, LLC (LRAM), engaged in marketing, sale and support of automotive accessories for overland adventure travel. The range included long-range fuel tanks, protective armor, camping and safety gear.

Her work for our firm included strategic counsel, original marketing content, video, photographic and other resources for growth of sales and profitability. Perhaps more importantly, Mercedes partnered with us to create new business partnerships and opportunities, including leveraged placement of our products with nationally recognized thought leaders. One such example is the Alcan 5000 Rally, in which our products were used and prominently visible with great success.

Secondly, following my sale of LRAM, Mercedes has supported McHenry Consulting Group, at which I am managing consultant. She has been valuable in development of our practice in support for manufacturers, builders, and support vendors in the automotive adventure segment. Her vision and guidance have informed our research efforts, content and services.

Mercedes is well recognized nationally as a lifestyle and automotive journalist, but she is also a significant resource for any corporate platform seeking to expand their brand based upon her access, vision, and skills.

The fruits of four years’ labor with Mercedes Lilienthal are a privilege to discuss. She possesses multiple skills, ranging from a capacity to plan, to orchestrate, to articulate, to final implementation, any combination of which can help an inquiring individual or organization excel. She and her work are reliable, professional, precise, and concise, but most importantly, she is passionate about any work she takes on, which mean the effort and results you receive are the best quality. She comes with my greatest recommendation and my sincerest gratitude for a job always well-done.

We partnered with Mercedes and Andy Lilienthal to prepare and run an Outback Wilderness in the ALCAN 5000 Rally. Mercedes and Andy were thoroughly professional throughout the project and their extensive industry relationships enabled them to garner broad media coverage for the event and vehicle. The Mercedes and Andy team stands out, not just through knowledge and experience, but also from a deeply rooted passion for automobiles and outdoor adventure that surfaces by way of professionalism, positive outlook, and engagement in the stories they tell and in the quality of their work.

Working with Mercedes during the 2021 Rebelle Rally was a great experience and one that I look back on fondly, much of it as a result of our partnership. Her professionalism, willingness to advise and take on multiple tasks in a team-oriented effort and general tenacious spirit made this incredibly challenging program a positive one. She delivered as a driver and as a spokesperson for the team, along with placing multiple stories for many months after the rally. Mercedes is all-in with everything she does and is a great partner.

I was fortunate to meet Mercedes at the very first media event for INEOS Automotive in early 2021. In the subsequent three years I have had the pleasure of many interviews and discussions with Mercedes about the Grenadier but also the industry in general.

Since that time in 2021 Mercedes set herself clearly apart from other members of the media by developing creative ideas and opportunities where the story could be enriched or a new platform could be found that would be compelling to the editors and readers of the publications she represents.

Mercedes is really hands-on and has created some outstanding content – and results – by getting behind the wheel of a Grenadier during grueling expeditions. The best example of this was our partnership with Mercedes and Andy Lilienthal as they entered the 2024 ALCAN 5000 Rally in a Grenadier. The expedition was meticulously planned and we worked very effectively as a team to prepare and plan for the rally. The results spoke for themselves – Mercedes and Andy won their class (2S Truck & SUV) and placed 10th overall (out of 36 teams) in the rally. Throughout the rally and afterwards Mercedes generated wonderful content, comprehensively covering the expedition and the performance of the Grenadier.

This is an approach that we really appreciated and embraced at INEOS. In this way, she has challenged us to think more broadly about opportunities and to ‘put our money where our mouth is’ in terms of opportunities to create genuine content and enhance credibility.

Throughout, Mercedes was always great at engagement with us as the Manufacturer, both with opportunities but also great results.

I was able to work with Mercedes during the 2023 Rebelle Rally. Having her as the driver for Honda’s first journalist team entry was an asset. She was great with “mechanical sympathy” of the vehicle, while still pushing it to show the abilities of the Honda Pilot TrailSport. We really appreciated the countless stories she posted on her own social media channels, the 10+ articles she had published on various sites, and multiple podcasts she was on where she always promoted the brand well. I was impressed with how much coverage she was able to secure. Clearly she was still working for many months after the event to continue to share the story of her adventure and our vehicle.

I had the pleasure of working with Mercedes when I managed Auto Shows and Events for Subaru of America, Inc. through this past October. During that time, I learned of a Subaru vehicle that Mercedes and Andy had customized and raced in the Alcan 5000, which they later chronicled through a variety of publications, like magazines, podcasts, and radio shows (in addition to their own outlet, Crankshaft Culture). I wanted to bring them and the vehicle to our Enthusiast Event Series and give them the opportunity to inspire thousands of other Subaru owners with their experience. That they did. Not only was Mercedes amazingly organized and an excellent planner but she helped in the rebuilding of the vehicle for our event and she was incredibly flexible in traveling across the country to our 7 events in five months. On site at our events, Mercedes engaged our audience and really brought with her an authentic owner perspective. She is incredibly knowledgeable about vehicles and inspired other women looking to follow her path into Rallying. From event to event, she always provided clear and constructive feedback and was an ideal partner to work with.