Showing posts with label Mercedes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mercedes. Show all posts

Monday, January 23, 2012

Tough Guy Learns a Lesson About Road Rage and Hitting an Old Man


We strongly oppose any form of violence on the road or anywhere else, for that matter, but what happens when you actually see someone attacking another person? Obviously, there's not one answer to that question as it all depends on the circumstances and whether or not someone's life is in danger.

In yet another wild incident from Russia that was captured on camera, a middle-age man in a Mercedes-Benz was squabbling with an elderly man in a hatchback.

The talk quickly escalated and the person in the Merc stepped out of the car and began attacking the other driver, initially punching and then kicking him with all his strength.

At that point, a young man in an Audi SUV stopped over and came to the scene and said something to the Mercedes driver who brushed him away. Seconds later the Audi driver runs back with a metal bat in his hand and whacks the tough guy on his legs putting him down. He then rushes to the Mercedes and breaks the mirror and windows before returning to his Audi and driving off!

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Mercedes-Benz to Build Second North American Plant in the U.S. or Mexico


Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche has made it clear that he wants Mercedes-Benz to become the number one premium manufacturer in the world, a title that for the time being belongs to its arch-rival BMW.

Last year, Mercedes sold 1.36 million units, around 300,000 less than BMW. According to Manager Magazin, Zetsche plans to reach the number one spot by almost doubling the three-pointed star’s production to 2.7 million vehicles by 2020 and increase its operating profit beyond 10 percent.

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Friday, January 20, 2012

Mercedes-Benz Video Teases 2012 A-Class Hatch, Launches New Interactive App


Like many other carmakers lately, Mercedes-Benz is preparing consumers for a new model debut through a dedicated app for smart phones. In the German firm's case, the new model is the upcoming 2012 A-Class premium hatchback, which will make its global premiere at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

To make things a bit more interesting, we learn that Mercedes will put several camouflaged 2012 A-Class hatchbacks in circulation in various German cities as part of a competition that will see one contestant winning a trip to the car's unveiling in Geneva.

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Police Seize MegaUpload Founder's Vast Collection of Luxury and Exotic Cars [Video + Photos]


You've no doubt heard by now about the U.S. indictment against the owners of the popular file-sharing site MegaUpload, which was shut down by feds on Thursday and which triggered a massive cyber-attack from Anonymous on a number of government websites including the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Today we also learn that the police seized a number of assets from the founder of MegaUpload, Kim Schmitz, aka Kimble, aka Kim Dotcom, including an amazing collection of automobiles with some rib-tickling license plates from his estate in New Zealand.

Twitter user Elliot Kamber was on hand to take a few shots of the cars that were seized, while we've also added a video after the break.

Among the vehicles taken from Schmitz's garage were a 2005 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM with "Good" number plates, a 2010 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG with a "CEO" plate, a pink 1959 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible, a 1989 Lamborghini LM002 and a 2010 Maserati GranCabrio. The cars are estimated to be worth over $6 million.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

2012 Mercedes-Benz A-Class Hatchback Scooped on Film


Our crafty spy shooters turned to video mode to capture the upcoming 2012 Mercedes-Benz A-Class model during winter testing in Europe.

The prototypes retain the usual camouflage though the video footage provides a better view of the new A-Class model's proportions and stance.

For the third generation A-Class, Mercedes-Benz has changed the formula switching to a regular platform and a traditional five-door body style that will be followed later on by a three-door model, which will resemble the A-Class Concept shown in New York and Shanghai last year.

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Mercedes-Benz Releases UK Pricing on New SLK 55 AMG


The most powerful production SLK of all time, the new 2012 SLK 55 AMG, has arrived in Britain and is available for to order with an on-the-road price of £54,950 (equal to US$84,630 / €66,200).

Lying under the hood of the AMG-branded SLK is a naturally aspirated, direct-injection V8 engine with a displacement of 5.5-liters that produces 421-horses at 6,800rpm and 540Nm (398.2 lb-ft) of peak torque at 4,500rpm.

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Monday, January 16, 2012

SPIED: Mercedes Begins Testing Next Generation Viano and Vito LCV


Now in their second generation, the current Mercedes-Benz Viano passenger model and its light-commercial van sibling, the Vito, have been in the market for quite a long time –nine years to be precise.

The Germany automaker has already begun work on their successors that should arrive towards the end of 2013 or early 2014. Our spy shooters caught up with a test mule featuring a modified front with a raised hood while testing in Germany.

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FAB Design Cloaks the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Convertible in a Wide Body Kit


Over the years, we've seen some pretty crude creations from Swiss tuning house FAB Design including an atrocious-looking Cadillac Escalade for a North African client.

But once in a while, FAB Design comes up with a tune that we could live with such as its new offering for the latest Mercedes-Benz E-Class Convertible series.

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Friday, January 13, 2012

Germany Makes Twice as Many Cars as the U.S. Even though it Pays its Workers Twice as Much


You’re bombarded by the same message over and over again on the news and perhaps have even experienced it at your work as well: there is a global economic crisis, things are not going well, workers have to adapt and accept lower wages in order to keep their jobs.

It’s happening all over the world, from Europe to the United States. Even the current administration’s “car czar”, Steve Rattner, said that the government should have pushed the UAW to take wage cuts in order to enhance U.S. automakers’ competiveness.

It seems to make sense: cutting costs is a tried method of increasing a company’s profitability. But what if it’s all a lie created by profit-hungry, greedy mega corporations and perpetrated by the media – which, in some cases, are owned by the same people?

That’s the question posed by Kevin C. Brown on his article in Remapping Debate. The argument he makes is quite compelling: how are German car workers at companies like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and VW paid twice as much as their counterparts in the U.S., yet manufacture twice as many cars?

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Thursday, January 12, 2012

Mercedes-Benz Rumored to be Readying E Superlight Special with a Carbon Fiber Structure


All premium manufacturers have at least one hybrid or/and EV vehicle in their range. Some like BMW and Audi, plan to develop even more high-tech cars in the near future such as “i” and e-tron series respectively.

So far, Mercedes-Benz has been conspicuously silent about its future plans. However, a report from Car magazine reveals that the German maker, which recently launched two hybrid versions of the E-Class simultaneously, will one-up its compatriots with a new halo sedan.

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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Living Legends: Oldest Mercedes 300 SL in Existence Shines at the Detroit Motor Show


Sad to say, many classic vehicles are often left to rot and inevitably make the dreaded trip to the crusher, after being stripped out of anything that can be recycled.

Thankfully, that’s not always the case and some vehicles survive even after 6 decades. Even though the first-ever 300 SL, a racing model from 1952, was destroyed, the second car that was built with chassis number 194 010 00002/52 survived as it was in Mercedes’ ownership.

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U.S. Diesel Car Sales Grow by a Staggering 27% in 2011 while Hybrids Drop 2.2%


Diesel-powered passenger cars almost became extinct in the U.S. market but a push in recent years from German carmakers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and the Volkswagen Group that launched a barrage of models with high-tech oil burners as well as the development of low-sulfur fuel have made American warm up to diesel.

In 2011 alone, sales of new clean diesel passenger vehicles soared by 27.4 percent over the previous year according to sales information compiled by HybridCars.Com and market research firm Baum and Associates.

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Mercedes-Benz and Nissan Join Forces to Build 4-Cylinder Engines in the USA


Back in April of 2010, Daimler, Mercedes-Benz's parent company, and the Renault-Nissan Alliance announced a broad strategic cooperation in which the two companies exchanged a 3.1 percent stake with each other and made plans to collaborate on several projects.

The partnership seems to be going well as the two automakers announced plans to produce Mercedes-Benz 4-cylinder gasoline engines together at Nissan's powertrain assembly plant in Decherd, Tennessee. Production of the four-bangers will commence in 2014 with an initial annual capacity of 250,000 units.

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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

New Mercedes-Benz SL and E-Class Hybrids Make their World Debut at the 2012 NAIAS


Launching the world’s most fuel-efficient full-size car and a brand-new groundbreaking roadster is not a bad way to draw people to your stand and that’s exactly what Mercedes-Benz did at the 2012 Detroit Motor Show with the two hybrid versions of the E-Class and the sixth generation of the SL roadster.

The diesel-powered E300 BlueTEC Hybrid returns a fuel economy of 4.2 lt/100 km on the European combined cycle (54.6mpg US). Its powertrain combines a four-cylinder turbodiesel engine with an output of 204HP and 500 Nm (368.7 lb-ft) of torque with a 20 kW (27HP) and 184.3 lb-ft (250 Nm) electric motor, and features an auto stop/start system, regenerative braking, a pure electric mode and a “sailing” function.

Since diesel models are not yet popular in the North American market, Mercedes also launched the E 400 Hybrid as well. The internal combustion unit is a 306HP and 272.9 lb-ft (370 Nm) V6 that runs on gasoline fuel, while the electric motor is the same as the E 300 BlueTec’s. The E400 Hybrid’s average fuel economy in accordance with American CAFE standards is 27 mpg (8.7 lt/100 km).

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Friday, January 6, 2012

SPIED: Mercedes-Benz CLC Small Sports Sedan Trots Out for Winter Testing


One 'four-door coupe' is no longer enough for Mercedes-Benz as the Stuttgart-based carmaker has plans to introduce a smaller sports saloon with a similar styling language to the CLS, with which it will expand into the lower-end price segment.

Our spies caught up with yet another prototype of the upcoming CLC model during winter testing in Northern Europe.

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Inden Design gives the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG a Power Boost


When it comes to high-end sports cars like the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, sometimes, less is more. We're talking about the tuning industry that has a nasty habit of going over the top with its proposed upgrades.

However, this time, Inden Design kept its tune civilized in the sense that the German company's mods are limited to the engine bay and the wheels.

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Thursday, January 5, 2012

And the Best-Selling Premium Brand in the U.S. for 2011 is…


The one thing we knew for sure after the manufacturing disruptions in Japan caused by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami was that Lexus wasn’t going to top the premium segment in the U.S. market for the first time in a decade. In fact, we also knew something else, the two contenders to the throne: BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

What we didn’t know up until Thursday is which of two brands was going to win, since both were caught in a neck-to-neck sales race. Going into December the gap was so small - less than 1,600 cars- that the win could go either way.

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Saturday, December 31, 2011

GM Not Worried about China’s Latest Measures Against Foreign Automakers


As we reported earlier this week, in a second move this month after imposing new duties on U.S.-made cars, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and its Commerce Ministry announced that they are putting an end to investment incentives, effective from January 30.

The reason being that even though China has more than 70 domestic car manufacturers, the bottom 55 account for only 11 percent of total sales.

As reported by Bloomberg News, General Motors, the biggest automaker in China, is not worried about the new measures. “We expect the new guideline to have minimal negative impact on GM’s future plans in China," the company said in a statement on Friday.

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Friday, December 30, 2011

New Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG Murdered Out by Wald International


Japanese tuning firm Wald International likes to give its customers' rides a sinister look and its take on the new 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG is no exception.

Even though in stock form the AMG version of Mercedes-Benz's sports saloon comes with its own aero-aids, Wald International has prepared a new and more aggressive styling package named Black Bison.

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

SPIED: 2012 Mercedes A-Class Hatchback Stretches Out in the Snow


The upcoming third generation A-Class is one of the most interesting new vehicles currently being prepared by Mercedes-Benz and all for good reason as the only common factor it has with the current model is its name.

You see, the Stuttgart-based company decided to compete more directly with the BMW 1-Series and even the higher-end versions of the VW Golf and as a result, opted for a sportier looking hatchback body built on a conventional platform instead of the tall, minivan-like shape and sandwich floor of the first two generations of the A-Class.

These latest spy shots of a five-door prototype of the A-Class testing in Europe suggest that the development of the car is nearing its end as engineers have removed much of its camouflage. If you want to see what the final model will look like, you can check out the patent images we posted earlier this year.

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