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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.

Mercedes-Benz cut fleetwide emissions by 4.3 percent last year

Mercedes-Benz says it reduced its fleetwide vehicle emissions by 4.3 percent last year. Of course, the German automaker has another 29 percent to go to meet the European Commission's 2020 mandate. But who's counting? Mercedes' luxury and sports car bent has made it a relative laggard when it comes to increasing fleetwide fuel-efficiency, but the company did reduce emissions from 140 grams of CO2 per kilometer to 134 last year. The company's fleetwide fuel efficiency (calculated using the lenient European standard) was 5.4 liters per 100 kilometers, which equals about 44 miles per gallon and represents a 25-percent jump since 2007. Benz has come a long way from its gas-swilling V8 tanks of the 1970s. In fact, the company said its top performer, in the fuel-efficiency sense, was the diesel-powered B180 CDI BlueEfficiency Edition, which consumes 3.8 liters per 100 kilometers. That equals about 62 mpg (again, on the lenient scale). The company got some additional good press by revealing that Winfried Kretschmann, Minister-President of the German State of Baden-Wurttemberg, drives a Mercedes-Benz S300 BlueTEC Hybrid. Not exactly a Nissan Leaf, mind you, but it's a start, as is the company's efforts to bring its fleetwide emissions ever closer to the 95g CO2/km level that the EC is mandating by 2020. Take a look at Mercedes-Benz's press release below. Minister-President of the German State of Baden-Wurttemberg, Winfried Kretschmann (left), with Prof. Dr. Thomas Weber (right) and a Mercedes-Benz S-Class S 300 BlueTEC HYBRID Fleet fuel consumption for Mercedes-Benz Cars falls to 134 g CO2/km: Top efficiency figures in all vehicle classes Stuttgart, Apr 08, 2014 Benefit for the environment and customers: In almost all vehicle classes, Mercedes-Benz offers the most efficient vehicle in the competitive lineup. Moreover, in 2013 the company was able to reduce the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions[1] of the Mercedes-Benz Cars EU new vehicle fleet by a further six grams, to 134 g CO2/km. This means that in 2013, the average fleet consumption was 5.4 litres/100 km – a reduction by 24.7 percent since 2007. At present the company offers more than 50 models emitting less than 120 g CO2/km and 71 models emitting less than 130 g CO2/km. Customers can find vehicles in the Mercedes-Benz model range that consume considerably less fuel than competing models. "With our model initiative we want to be the leading premium manufacturer by 2020 again, says Prof.

2016 Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S Coupe 4Matic brings big power to go with massive name

Mercedes-Benz hopped into the luxury crossover coupe market with both feet with the recently debuted GLE-Class Coupe. While the existence of beauty in this segment is still up for debate, the Merc really gives the BMW X6 a direct competitor. With the newly unveiled 2016 Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S Coupe 4Matic, the engineers from Affalterbach are now also turning their sights on their rivals from BMW's M division. Don't let the name fool you. The GLE63 AMG Coupe eschews the twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 from the C63 AMG in favor of an even bigger power source. This crossover uses the company's thundering 5.5-liter twin-turbocharged V8 with stop/start that pumps out 577 horsepower and 561 pound-feet of torque – 10 hp and 8 lb-ft more than the X6 M. The deep well of muscle means the sprint to 62 miles per hour takes just 4.2 seconds; faster than you can say the coupe's mile-long official name. The AMG Speedshift Plus 7G-Tronic seven-speed automatic gearbox routes all of that grunt to all four wheels with a 40:60 front/rear split. The styling of this beast gets a special nod from AMG by being the first CUV from the company to get its A-wing grille. Even if the rest of the design can be polarizing, this portion looks fantastic. The airfoil in the bumper is supposed to look like a stylized A, and from some angles, the wing almost appears like its just floating there. Each side of the GLE63 features black wheel arch flares, and around back there's a small lip spoiler on the tailgate. It's complimented by a new rear apron that has air outlets at each corner, integrated tailpipes and a diffuser in the center. Being a Mercedes-AMG, buyers sit in the lap of luxury inside. The seats are covered in Nappa leather with AMG crests on the headrests. The performance brand's moniker can also be found on the three-spoke steering wheel, and the instrument panel even gets covered in black Nappa. Obviously, if this isn't enough for potential buyers, Mercedes has a ton of options on hand. They include performance-oriented items like a sport exhaust system, 22-inch wheels and carbon fiber engine cover, but there're also more opulent choices like the fragrance mister and a high-end Bang & Olufson sound system. Scroll down for all the details on the much more powerful GLE Coupe. The new Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S Coupe 4MATIC Driving performance reinterpreted Affalterbach/Detroit.