2014 Mercedes-benz Cla-class on 2040-cars

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Mercedes expected to announce US HQ relocating to Atlanta today

Employees at Mercedes-Benz's US headquarters in Montvale, NJ, are set to gather today for the annual president's reception. Only this year, company chairman Dr. Dieter Zetsche is expected to fly in from headquarters to make a big announcement. That announcement, according to mounting speculation, is that MBUSA is moving to Atlanta. News of the potential move first broke around three weeks ago, suggesting that the German automaker was looking to relocate its US headquarters from New Jersey to somewhere in the South, with the Atlanta area tipped as the front-runner. Now sources are expecting that announcement to be made imminently. Although the specifics of the move have yet to be made public, Mercedes is tipped to be looking at moving into either a purpose-built facility or an existing office space in the Sandy Springs area, specifically near the intersections of Georgia 400 and Abertnathy, where UPS has its headquarters. The move is said to have hinged on a substantial incentives package worth nearly $50 million put together by the Georgia state government. The state of New Jersey is said to have offered similar incentives to keep Mercedes in the Bergen County borough of Montvale, where it employs 800 in its 141,000-square-foot office complex. One advertising company even put up billboards encouraging the company to stay, but if the reports prove accurate, it looks like their efforts may have been too little and/or too late. Mercedes wouldn't be the first automaker to move to the South, where numerous foreign carmakers have been also setting up factories. Toyota is also preparing to move its US headquarters to Texas, and though already based in Georgia, Porsche is preparing to move into a new $100 million facility, complete with on-site test track, closer to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport that has grown into a major international hub. The move on Mercedes' part would put its US base of operations closer to its factory in Tuscaloosa, AL, and the port near Savannah, GA, from which it ships out the former's production overseas.

Test drive the Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive with Chris Harris

It's hard to not like the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT. The all-aluminum coupe is fitted with a wonderful naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8 delivering 583 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque. Not only does the burly combustion engine launch the two-seater to 60 miles per hour in less than four seconds, but it does so with one of the world's greatest exhaust soundtracks as it roars, burbles and cackles down the road.
But what happens when Mercedes-Benz takes away the V8 and its accompanying fire-burning song? Stripped of one of its most appealing assets, does the SLS lose its soul?
Chris Harris recently had the opportunity to take the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive for a track spin in Europe. Sans gasoline, but with four electric motors providing a combined 740 horsepower (737 pound-feet of torque), all-electric all-wheel drive coupe uses sophisticated torque vectoring and a multi-mode operating system to put oversteer - drifting! - back into the equation. Fun? You bet. See for yourself, below.

Mercedes to market Tesla-powered 2014 B-Class EV in U.S.

Looks like another Tesla Motors investor will be looking to cash in on their connection. Autoweek reports Mercedes-Benz will offer their B-Class in the U.S. with Tesla propulsion.
The magazine says their source at the German automaker confirms plans for a B-Class electric-only vehicle. While Tesla already provides battery packs for the battery-powered Smart ForTwo, the B-Class EV will reportedly have Tesla batteries, motor and other components. U.S. residents should be able to procure one sometime in 2014.
The same Mercedes source says plans for a hybrid B-Class have been postponed for now. Adding a range-extending, gasoline-powered engine to an electric vehicle would put the car into a different class for which rebates and incentives aren't as favorable in the States.