2008 Mercedes-benz Clk350 Base Coupe 2-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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Mercedes mulling Renault-based entry-level X-Class?

Somewhere in between the Smart brand and the all-new A-Class (pictured above), Daimler is said to be readying a smaller entry-level product for the Mercedes-Benz brand to compete with models like the Audi A1. According to AutoBild, Mercedes-Benz will get a new hatchback based on a platform from its recent partnership with Renault-Nissan, and it could be called the X-Class.
Expected to debut by 2018, the Mercedes-Benz X-Class could be offered in sedan, hatchback and crossover variants, and it would likely have a starting price below the $20,000-euro mark. Power would come from either a 1.0-liter inline three-cylinder engine or a 1.5-liter inline-four, and the car would likely be built in a low-cost nation in order to make the financials work. Wearing the Mercedes-Benz name, the X-Class would have to exhibit more distinguishable luxury and styling to set itself apart from the models that helped provide its underpinnings.

Mercedes-Benz CLA stars in sweeping short with supermodel Karlie Kloss

The Mercedes-Benz CLA earned itself a spot on our list of the top five unveils of the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, and for good reason. The German luxury compact is the first small car from the Silver Arrow that looks suitably premium inside and out. Nowness.com has turned out a new video of the CLA featuring super model Karlie Koss in the lead role. We aren't entirely sure what the premise is, but from what we can tell, it looks as if the CLA comes to life and proceeds to be a giant jerk.
After Koss stops to take a closer look at a white horse, the CLA gives the supermodel the old stop-and-go treatment before leaving her on the side of the road. Eventually, the sedan makes nice, but Koss has to ride shotgun instead of taking the controls herself. You can check out the video below to see for yourself.

2015 Mercedes C-Class owners reporting bleeding seats [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Daimler AG became aware that, in a small number of individual cases, it is possible for temporary spots and/or shiny patches to form on the man-made leather surfaces of the 2015 C-Class in sub-freezing temperatures. No accidents or injuries have been reported, and we have no reason to believe that there are any hazards to customers. Replacement parts are expected to start shipping to dealers by next week. Owners of the 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class are learning the hard way that you don't necessarily want to buy a new vehicle in its first model year. Besides reports of poorly fitting taillights and faulty infotainment touchpads, a number of reports are popping up on the forums of MBWorld.org claiming that the compact luxury sedan's seats are, for lack of a better term, bleeding. Owners of US-built, 2015 C-Classes fitted with MB Tex vinyl interiors are reporting a white, oily, shiny residue discoloring their seats that shows up, often after cold cars are quickly heated. It's important to note that this residue is not necessarily staining the seats permanently – warm, soapy water is often all that's needed to restore the original finish. In other cases, the residue disappears of its own accord, only to reappear in an entirely different pattern. That doesn't make things any more acceptable to owners, many of whom have reached out to Mercedes with complaints. It's not clear how many vehicles are affected, but there are a sizable number of forum threads on the issue on MBWorld alone, and the problem is prevalent enough that Mercedes has issued a technical service bulletin to its dealers. According to the forum postings, the TSB instructs service technicians to replace the headrest and seat cover (except for the front, passenger-side seat bottom because of "factory calibration issues") in affected customer vehicles. New C-Class models in dealer inventories, meanwhile, are to get the soapy water treatment if they're showing signs of the residue. Neither one of those moves seems to represent a long-term fix, though. Black MB Tex seats – both the standard and sport variety – seem to be particularly susceptible to the residue, although we stumbled across at least one image of what looks like Silk Beige MB Tex with speckles of residue.