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Cigarette Racing unveils the AMG GT S-inspired 50-foot Marauder

The Cigarette Racing stand at the Miami Boat Show this morning hosted the latest in the eight-year collaboration between Mercedes-AMG and Cigarette Racing: the AMG GT S parked next to the fast-boat it inspired, the Cigarette Racing 50 Marauder GT S Concept. The vinyl ester resin and fiberglass go-fast boat is more than a matching Solarbeam yellow paint job with the coupe that inspired it. Like other carmakers who have partnered with companies outside the industry - such as Nissan's recent tie-up with NASA - there's an exchange of technology involved; Cigarette said that working with AMG on composites and bonding helped them drop 1,000 pounds off the Marauder GT S Concept compared to the standard Marauder twin-engine, which comes in at 14,200 pounds. Customers who order standard Marauders can request the weight reduction (for a price), but we were told that unless they plan to spend most of their time above 100 miles per hour, the extra weight contributes to a smoother ride. Mercedes head designer Gordon Wagener penned the exterior paint job and worked with Cigarette to design the cockpit trim, which would have seen him in familiar surroundings: Cigarette Racing owner Skip Braver is a long-time AMG customer, and the boat company based its bespoke department on the AMG Design Studio in Affalterbach. Every one of its boats is handbuilt in its factory in Opa-locka, Florida using some of the same processes seen in automaking, like bar codes to track the progress of hulls and components, computer controlled paint samples with digital files that can be sent around the world for matching, and doing all the stitching in-house to keep tabs on quality control. The engine compartment holds two, nine-liter, four-valve, DOHC, quad-cam, twin-turbocharged Mercury Racing engines with all-aluminum blocks, each one of them good for an electronically-limited 1,550 pound-feet of torque, and either 1,350 horsepower or 1,550 horsepower depending on whether you run regular 91-octane fuel or 116-octane race fuel. So yes, that's 3,100 hp and 3,100 lb-ft at once, if you go all out. Mercury says they're the most powerful powerful emissions-certified gas-powered marine engines you can buy. The engines don't have knock sensors, though, so you have to turn a key to register the kind of fuel you're putting in, and you can switch from one to the other when two 150-gallon tanks are down to 10-percent full.

Daimler and Volvo could jointly develop internal combustion engines

BERLIN — Luxury German carmaker Daimler and Volvo, owned by China's Geely, are considering cooperating to cut the costs of developing combustion engines, a magazine reported on Sunday, citing unnamed company sources. The Automobilwoche weekly cited a Volvo manager as saying there were initial talks with Daimler, but no concrete plans, while a company spokesman said it was too early to talk about firm projects, although it was not excluding anybody. A Daimler spokesman said the company's cooperation with Geely, which owns a 10% stake in the German carmaker, was developing in a positive way, but declined to comment further. Global tariffs, accelerated by a trade war between China and the United States, as well as higher investment requirements for electric and autonomous vehicles, are forcing carmakers to seek new ways to cut and share costs. In October, Volvo said it would merge its engine development and manufacturing assets with those of Geely, creating a division to supply in-house brands and also potentially others with next-generation combustion and hybrid engines. Automobilwoche said this new division would start operating by the end of March, which could be a possible starting point for cooperation with Daimler, while a further step could be a partnership to develop electric power trains. Geely and Daimler have said they plan to build the next generation of Smart electric cars in China through a joint venture and the two companies are also cooperating on a premium ride-hailing service in China. Geely bought Volvo Cars in 2010 from Ford, allowing the Swedish brand to operate on an arms-length basis. But in recent years, it has deepened cooperation between the two brands. Volvo already supplies engines to some Geely-branded vehicles, sharing technology through Geely's Lynk brand. Both companies share and develop common vehicle platforms. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Mercedes-Benz may create electric-only brand

Daimler's Mercedes-Benz division may follow in fellow German automaker BMW's footsteps by launching its own separate brand for electric vehicles, Hybrid Cars says, citing German publication Handelsblatt, which quoted people familiar with the process. Daimler's board may make the decision to go ahead with the plan as early next month. And the brand may officially be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in September. Unlike BMW and the i brand, Mercedes would use its existing factories to produce the newly-branded vehicles instead of operating out of a separate one as the i brand does. The first vehicle under the brand is likely to be an SUV model based on the Mercedes-Benz GLC crossover vehicle and would start sales next year. The product line would be broadened further in 2020. Daimler declined to comment, according to Handelsblatt. Mercedes-Benz and BMW wouldn't be the only two German automakers with plans for more electric vehicle sales. Volkswagen has a plan to unleash as many as 20 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids to the public by 2020, including the Phaeton and the Audi A8. On that note, reports surfaced last month that VW may build its own "Gigafacory" as it prepares to widen its plug-in vehicle push and bring down their costs. As for US sales, Smart sold 313 ForTwo Electric vehicles, down 43 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, BMW's i sales in the US fell 40 percent from a year earlier to 2,723. Currently, Mercedes-Benz's only two electric vehicles are the Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive and the Smart ForTwo Electric two-seat vehicle. In the meantime, take a look at Autoblog's First Drive of the B-Class Electric. Related Video: News Source: Handelsblatt, Hybrid Cars Green Mercedes-Benz smart Electric