1978 Mercedes Benz 450sel 6.9 Sedan Runs And Drives on 2040-cars

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Nissan edges out Tesla for most ZEV credits sold in California

When it comes to California zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) credits last year, Nissan was selling and Mercedes-Benz was buying. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) put out its ZEV-credits numbers for the year that ended September 30, which is why we now know that Nissan, maker of the battery-electric Leaf, transferred 663.6 ZEV credits out of its account last year. That just edged out the 650.195 credits that Tesla sold. Chrysler's Fiat affiliate was a distant third, but its limited-production Fiat 500E was still able to generate some ZEV credits and then transfer out 235.2 of them. We don't know how much the buyers paid for these credits, since those details are kept private. It's an ever-changing rulebook over at CARB, anyway. On the flip side, Mercedes-Benz had to buy 663.6 ZEV credits in order to comply with clean vehicle-sales mandates in the most populous US state, indicative of the German automaker's gas-guzzling tendencies. Honda has cars that get better fuel economy than your average Benz, but its plug-in vehicles represent just a fraction of total sales and so it had to shell out for 542.5 ZEV credits. Chrysler-Fiat basically tread water, since the 237.8 ZEV credits it required for compliance canceled out gains on the other side of the ledger. Those Dodge Ram pickup trucks don't exactly help matters. Last year, Tesla sold the most ZEV credits while GM purchased the most. Overall, Californians bought about 3.5 million vehicles for the year that ended September 30, including 38,000 battery-electric vehicles, 30,000 plug-in hybrids and 570,000 conventional hybrids. The longstanding ZEV program means that California now has more than 100,000 ZEVs on its roads. Read this for more details on ZEV credit transfers in California. Featured Gallery 2013 Nissan Leaf View 55 Photos News Source: California Air Resources Board via Green Car Congress Government/Legal Green Mercedes-Benz Nissan Tesla Electric California zev credits

Maybach and Aston Martin alliance talks fall apart

If you have, like us, been salivating at the notion of a new generation of Maybach and Lagonda ultra-luxury crafts built by Aston Martin, we've got some bad news: According to reports emanating from Germany, talks between AML and Daimler have broken down.
The proposal under negotiation would have seen Daimler outsourcing production of the next family of Maybach models to Aston Martin, which in return would benefit from Mercedes-Benz platforms and engines - not only for its svelte GTs, but also for its own future Lagonda line of limousines and luxury SUVs. That, and a boatload of money - or at least that's what AML was reportedly seeking, an issue that served as the stumbling block over which the deal reportedly collapsed.
That's not to say the two parties couldn't still reach some sort of a compromise, but short of that, Daimler may opt to either shut down Maybach altogether, find another partner, or take another stab at building new models internally.

Autoblog Podcast #384

Episode #384 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Steven Ewing and Chris Paukert talk about rumors that the Subaru WRX Concept styling may influence the next production model, the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, and Chris' time with the 2015 Lincoln MKC. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #384: Topics: Long-term 2015 Subaru WRX introduction Subaru WRX Concept styling may see production 2015 Lincoln MKC 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 In the Autoblog Garage: 2014 Mercedes-Benz E550 Cabriolet 2014 Volkswagen Jetta SEL 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Hosts: Dan Roth, Steven Ewing, Chris Paukert Runtime: 01:34:21 Rundown: Intro and Garage - 00:00 Long-term WRX intro - 27:20 WRX Concept - 37:10 Lincoln MKC - 47:49 Corvette Z06 - 01:07:18 Q&A - 01:16:18 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes [RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Feedback: Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Podcasts Rumormill Chevrolet Lincoln Mercedes-Benz Subaru subaru wrx concept