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New Mercedes E-Class nearly exposed, may be Maybach

The all-new Mercedes-Benz E-Class is marching closer and closer to production, with a new round of spy photos giving us our best look yet at the S-Class-inspired looks of the German brand's executive luxury car. There really is very little camouflage this time around – what's there looks more like the kind of plastic wrapping you'd see on a freshly imported vehicle at the port. In front, we can see the new E will wear similar LED accents to the S- and C-Class. The E-Class' big and little brothers also inspired the tail of the new model, where we can see slightly disguised, vertically oriented LED taillights. Prominent, enclosed exhausts are very similar to what we saw in our spy shots of the Mercedes-Maybach E-Class. Aside from the exhausts, this particular car also wears the same blingy wheels as the range-topping tester we spied last August. The thick-rimmed, multi-spoke design isn't the only giveaway to this car's luxurious intentions, though. Our last Maybach sighting showed a car completely covered in camo, making it difficult to tell just how large the rear doors are relative to the car we're seeing today. Instead of the doors, though, we suggest you look at the windows. Like the August spy photos, this prototype features tinted rear glass, which could perhaps indicate that we're looking at yet another example the second Mercedes-Maybach model. So is this yet another Maybach E-Class? We're leaning towards yes. The size of the back doors – and the rear quarter window, in particular – is close enough to what we saw last month, and the presence of tinted glass, the same exhausts, and the same wheels can't be discounted either.

BMW reclaims US luxury sales crown from Mercedes

The numbers, they are in: BMW has reclaimed the luxury-sales crown from Mercedes by a margin of 9,347 cars. Mercedes donned the king's headgear in 2013 after a strong final quarter of 2013 when the new CLA and S-Class poured out of dealerships. This year, led by the 3 Series/4 Series and X5, BMW sold 339,738 units – a 9.8-percent increase year-on-year. Mercedes, led by the C-Class and M-Class, saw its sales go up by 5.7 percent to 330,391 units. We'll have to wait a bit to see if there's another registrations-vs-sales challenge as in 2012, when BMW was anointed US luxury ruler. Behind them, a dark horse named Lexus nudged closer to the leading Teutons, selling 311,389 cars. The Japanese luxury automaker also had the biggest gain among the top three, its sales rising by 13.7 percent compared to 2013. Audi had the biggest sales of anyone among the top five, though, with a 15.2-percent gain to 182,011, which moved it a spot ahead of Cadillac; the Wreath-and-Crest brand dropped 6.5 percent to 170,750. Acura (167,843), Infiniti (117,300), and Lincoln (94,474) took the final positions. Speaking of Lincoln, sales at the once-mighty luxury marque stand as the mightiest jump of any on this list, up 15.6 percent. That's the power of Matthew McConaughey... and better cars and a new crossover, sure. So now that we're back to Round One of 2015, in case no one else has said it yet: "Ok, fight!"

Consumer Reports declares most and least loved cars [w/video]

Consumer Reports is crunching the numbers from its annual owner-satisfaction survey, and part of that process is finding out how attached drivers are to their cars. CR simply asks readers of models up to three years old if they would buy the same vehicle again in light of their entire ownership experience, and tallies the results. After looking at the responses for about 350,000 vehicles, it turns out that people really love a certain California-built, electrically powered luxury sedan. That's right, this year's the overall winner was the Tesla Model S with a whopping 98 percent of owners saying they would purchase another one (the Model S also won this award last year, with 99 percent satisfaction). The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray came in a close second with 95 percent of drivers hoping to park another one in their garage. A few models weren't quite so favored, though. The Nissan Versa Sedan was the least loved model among its owners; a mere 42 percent said that they would purchase another. The aging Jeep Compass didn't do much better, with just 43 percent of drivers willing to buy the softroader again. On average, about 70 percent of owners say they would buy their car again, and only four cars ranked below 50 percent in CR's findings. Check out the video above to see some of the winners and losers in a few of CR's categories. If you're a subscriber, you can check out the full list on its website. Related Gallery Consumer Reports Most Loved Cars 2014 Related Gallery Consumer Reports Least Loved Cars 2014 News Source: Consumer Reports - sub. req., Consumer Reports via YouTube Chevrolet Ford Mazda Mercedes-Benz Porsche Subaru Tesla Ownership Videos car ownership