Navigation Heated/cooled Seats Harman/kardon Wood Wheel Sunroof Trunk Closure on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Maybach could become Mercedes-Benz sub-brand

When you're arriving in a twin-turbocharged, twelve-cylinder Maybach limo, there's no reason you should ever have to be late. Except, maybe, to make a fashionable entrance. But up at the corporate level, the entire Maybach brand is being slowed down as critical decisions about its future are being undertaken.
Last week, we reported that a decision on what path Maybach would take going forward would be due at the start of next month, but the latest reports indicate that the timeframe has been extended as further options are being considered.
The previous options under consideration were twofold: either relaunch the brand with production outsourced to Aston Martin - which suddenly finds itself with excess production capacity - or shut it down completely. And those are still two very real options. Word has it that Aston has put together four concept cars for the Daimler brass to consider, all based on the next-generation S-Class platform (and thankfully not the old one).

2014 Mercedes-Benz S500 Plug-in Hybrid for fat cats frugal with fuel

Judging by how long we waited to get a clear shot of the Mercedes-Benz S500 Plug-in Hybrid, you'd have thought hybrid cars were only driven by Terminators and that the technology arrived only 48 hours ago through a wormhole in the Mercedes stand. The newest member of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class hybrid band - joining the S400 Hybrid and S350 BlueTEC Hybrid, it hits notes like a 5.5-second sprint from standstill to 62 miles per hour, up to 19 miles of ion-powered running and uses three liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers in Europe (78.41 mpg US, but our mpg test cycle is different than their mpg test cycle).
The lump up front is a turbocharged, 3.0-liter V6, the lump in back - note the reduction in trunk space - is a pack of lithium-ion batteries that juice an 80-kilowatt electric motor. Other than having four drive options for controlling electric drive and battery usage, it's all S-Class all the time, with leather-covered everything and those mountainous thrones that bring to mind words like "Archduke" and "Papal."
You'll find our hard-earned gallery from the Frankfurt Motor Show floor above, and more words of information in the press release below.

Mercedes considering Audi Allroad rival

The Audi Allroad is something of an anomaly in the automotive world. Its competitors are limited to the recently released Volvo V60 Cross Country and perhaps the far cheaper Subaru Outback. The lifted premium wagon hasn't exactly done great for Audi, only selling a few hundred examples each month. Its best sales year was 2013, and even then, only 5,300 left US showrooms. Despite these limited prospects, word from Australia is that Mercedes-Benz is looking at launching its own competitor to the Allroad. "We are looking at every single niche, so we are studying this [Allroad] at the moment, but it is not confirmed," Matthias Luhrs, VP of sales and a member of the product management at MB, told Motoring.com.au. "We are looking obviously at C-Class and E-Class, but no confirmation at the moment." Fortunately, Luhrs recognizes that the Allroad isn't exactly a smash in the US. "In the US, no matter how long, short, high ... they don't like station wagons," Luhrs said, while adding that the Allroad concept is "developing quite successfully" in Italy and southern Europe. And for those hoping for a lifted C- or E-Class sedan, Luhrs also put the kibosh on that, saying, "We are not studying that." So what does this tell us? Well, it's still far from a sure thing that Mercedes will launch a lifted C-Class or E-Class Estate. And even if the company does go ahead with it, like the rest of the brand's long roofs (E-Class aside), don't expect to see it on US roads.