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Mercedes A-Class next up for facelift

This is the coming Mercedes-Benz A-Class, and in case the paucity of camouflage didn't make it clear, it won't look much different the one that's been on sale for all of two years. Caught in Sweden braving the temperatures, its exterior updates aren't expected to go much further than a reworked face that brings it in line with the recently updated B-Class, including a new grille, headlights and taillights, and bumpers. The cabin is where most of the work is being done, to give it a better punch against the BMW 1 Series. A tweaked dash cluster, better fabrics and materials, the eight-inch tablet-style nav/multimedia screen, and ambient lighting should join the party. The updated range of B-Class engines should also make the jump into the A. A photo caught at a dealer meeting in Barcelona last year makes us pretty sure it will be introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September this year. Until then, there are spy shots to peruse.

2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600 First Drive

Imagine the audacity: during the salad days of the early 2000s, the company that invented the automobile – already synonymous with class-leading luxury – sought to further expand its portfolio by crashing the ultraluxury party. Going up against the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley, Mercedes-Benz traded its unmistakable Three-Pointed Star for a Mighty Mouse-like logo, exhuming a stately, long-dead German marque originally founded in 1909. The long-wheelbase Maybach 62 listed at an epic $360,000, while later spinoffs included curiosities like the nearly $700,000 Zeppelin, and a roofless, seven-figure limousine dubbed Laundaulet. By the time the financial bubble finally burst in 2008, the brand's fate was all but sealed, with US sales dropping into the double digits. It limped along another four years, but when the nameplate finally went kerplunk, it left behind it a trail of disappointed movers, shakers, moguls and rappers. The perfect postmodern metaphor for the brand's funeral pyre? Kanye West and Jay-Z's Otis music video, in which a perfectly fine Maybach is chopped and deconstructed, flames spewing out the tailpipes as it powerslides through an empty parking lot. Meet The (Sorta) New Boss Rising from the ashes of hubris is the 2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600, a recalibrated stab at high-end luxury with a startlingly similar, yet different, approach to its forbear. Like the last go, the new sled features a significantly longer wheelbase, which stretches 8.1 inches over the standard S600. Additional sound damping helps it claim the quietest rear cabin in all of production automobiledom, and posher trim bits include a rim of wood surrounding the reclining rear seats. Among the livery-focused special features is a rearview mirror-mounted microphone to amplify the driver's voice, an available rear fridge, and an executive seat package with folding tray tables. The super high-end hallmarks are there – a twin-turbo V12 dispatching sub-5 second 0 to 60 times, a stunning 24 speaker Burmester sound system, double-M branded silver plate champagne flutes, et al. – but the hyperinflated price tag is not. Starting at $189,350, roughly half the cost of the old flagship, the new Maybach isn't even the most expensive Mercedes-Benz you can buy. That distinction goes to the S65 AMG Coupe, which empties your coffers to the tune of $230,900.

Mercedes-Maybach SL 680 Monogram Series gives the rich and famous what they want

TOPANGA, Calif. – Give the people what they want, right? Especially if they're extremely wealthy. And possibly famous.  Apparently, the requests for a convertible Maybach from existing owners and/or celebrities were so frequent and insistent that the uber-luxury offshoot of Mercedes-Benz finally decided to give them just that. The 2025 Mercedes-Maybach SL 680 Monogram Series answers the call. While all other Maybachs are based on a Mercedes-Benz, this is the first Maybach to be based on a car developed by AMG: the current-generation SL 55 and SL 63. This presented a greater challenge to engineers than past efforts. Although a sportier Maybach was intended (as opposed to modern Maybach's first drop-top effort, the Maybach S 650 Cabriolet), the SL 680 is, not surprisingly, seeking a much different dynamic end goal than its AMG-only cousins. According to Maybach product manager Hannes Meyer, the far shorter wheelbase than the Maybach norm was a particular challenge in making sure that its convertible offering maintained "the same ease and nearly floating driving experience" expected of the brand. To that end, the Maybach SL shares the SL 63's air suspension and trick AMG Active Control interconnected hydraulically controlled dampers, but the tuning is changed, especially with the rear air springs as the driver sits closer to those. Meyer says the damper valves in particular have a greater range between sportiness and comfort than the SL 63. The steering system is totally Maybach-specific, including a different ratio and more upright front camber, resulting in what Meyer described as a more stable and less aggressive setup than what you'd find in the SL 63.  Before you start looking for a 6.8-liter engine in the Mercedes arsenal, remember that those numbers don't really mean anything anymore. The Maybach SL 680 has exactly the same 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 as the SL 63 good for 577 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. The nine-speed AMG transmission is the same in terms of hardware, but it has totally different software. In particular, the 2-3 and 3-4 shifts are most different in order to provide a smoother, more Maybach acceleration experience. The 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive system is also shared, but is programmed to have a more balanced front-to-rear power split than the rear-biased AMG. Finally, the exhaust has been retuned. Meyer said that up to 2,800 rpm, the exhaust isn't quieter than what you'd experience in the AMGs, it just has a different tone.