2007 Mercedes-benz G-class G55 Amg on 2040-cars

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Mercedes was set to sell version of Nissan Titan, now Infiniti might instead

Mercedes-Benz Titan. Mercedes-Benz Frontier. Mercedes-Benz pickup truck. None of these things roll off the tongue particularly well. We'd like to think that's the reason Daimler opted to kill the idea of rebadged Titan and Frontier pickups from corporate ally Nissan. In reality, the execution before the Frankfurt Motor Show was due to more complicated issues.
Yes, Mercedes, byword for German luxury, style and quality, would have slapped a three-pointed star on a pair of Japanese pickup trucks that have failed to resonate with consumers in the world's largest truck market. That slapping of badges isn't much of an exaggeration, at least on the outside. According to the report from Road & Track, the truck's front clip would have been tweaked, but beyond that, the sheetmetal would have been unchanged. The interior would have received a more thorough going-over by the team at Mercedes, while the suspension and noise, vibration and harshness tuning would have also received significant attention.
The trucks would have ended up being sold through the light-commercial branch of Mercedes-Benz - the same folks that will happily sell you a Sprinter van - had the deal gone through. Issues arose, though, first with the engines. Mercedes wanted a wider range of powertrains to allow it to tune models for specific markets, while Nissan said it couldn't engineer the wide variety of engines that MB wanted to drop under the hood. For the smaller truck, meanwhile, MB was interested in a hybrid or plug-in variant, according to R&T, although this was also shot down by Nissan.

New Mercedes Unimog debuts to the cheers of little boys everywhere [w/video]

The Mercedes Unimog, the superhero villain of the off-road world that's just waiting to make the jump to Transformer, has been completely upgraded for its new generation. There are ten models, expanding the range and getting new designations across the traditional all-terrain series and the implement-carrier series. Panoramic cabins get more visibility, multifunction steering wheels and better dash clusters, improved HVAC and a three-mode central tire inflation system. Outside, there are new items like LED headlights and daytime running lamps in the bumper, roof-mounted windshield wipers and a front-camera monitor for the implement carrier.
The new engine lineup is compliant with Euro VI, featuring four- and six-cylinder BlueEfficiency engines putting out anywhere from 156 horsepower to 354 hp. Powerplant placement has also been tweaked, the chassis members getting a revised curve to place the engine a bit further back and lower, maintaining off-road clearance and lowering the Unimog's center of gravity. The new location of the engine means the cabin has more room, and the wheelbase is shorter. Combined with a higher turning angle, the Unimog has a smaller turning radius than before.
The implement carrier gets what's called a "synergistic traveling drive," the bonus being that drivers don't need to stop in order to use an attachment - a hydrostatic transmission works with the regular manual transmission at up to 31 kilometers per hour for seamless switching.

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.