Crossword Genius

German luxury car dealer? Not half (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

merc

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'german luxury car' is the definition.
'merc' can be an answer for 'car' (short for Mercedes). I am not certain of the 'german luxury' bit.

'dealer? not half' is the wordplay.
'dealer?' becomes 'merchant' (dealer is a kind of merchant).
'not half' suggests halving the letters.
'merchant' halved is 'MERC'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for merc that I've seen before include "German make of luxury car (colloq.)" , "German car (abbr)" , "business-class car" , "one hired for foreign work" , "High-performance German car" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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