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X1, 3 Series power BMW back into global luxury autos sales lead

BMW managed to eke ahead of Audi for the global luxury sales crown in February. According to Bloomberg, BMW saw deliveries swell by 7 percent in February, besting the 3.2 percent jump enjoyed by Audi and giving BMW a 407-unit delivery lead over its rival last month. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, continued to falter, with the brand selling some 37,229 fewer machines than BMW, whose factories are running at full capacity to keep up with demand. Models like the X1 (shown above) enjoyed a sales increase of 40 percent in February while the company's bread-and-butter 3 Series jumped by 26 percent.
Mercedes-Benz hopes to stem its continued market share loss with the addition of the entry-level CLA sedan to its portfolio in April. The company is set to roll out an updated version of its cash-cow E-Class at the same time, and a new-generation S-Class will follow along shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, the company is increasing production to meet demand for its A and B-Class models.

Mercedes-Maybach GLS could become the most expensive car made in America

Mercedes-Benz International, the German automaker's manufacturing facility near Vance and Tuscaloosa, Ala., already builds the GLS SUV. Autonews reports that the coming ultra-luxe version of the large crossover, the Mercedes-Maybach GLS, will be built in Alabama as well for global markets. The most recent timelines mark the reveal in production or near-production form in China, with sales to commence next year. The next-gen series-production GLS goes on sale later this year. The gilded sub-brand previewed a wild concept last year in China called the Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury, which blended the tall profile of an SUV with the truck of a sedan on donk wheels. Based on spy shots, none of that fancy will make it to production. Both the Maybach and AMG versions of the GLS ride on fat rubber but look thoroughly traditional. The treasure will be inside. Autonews said China accounts for roughly 75 percent of Maybach S-Class sedan sales. That suggests the GLS in baroque trim will emphasize chauffeured luxury touches like rear captain's chairs and lots of rear legroom. Pricing estimates figure $200,000 to get in the door. That would put the SUV right in line with the Lamborghini Urus and a couple stacks of Benjamins above the Bentley Bentayga, with much the same likely audience. One analyst said, "The ultra-high-net-worth kids want something different, and these ultraluxury SUVs certainly fit that," while another opined on its "appeal to the Kardashians and hip-hoppers, if they want something slightly different to the G-Wagen." A $200K MSRP would also comfortably make the Maybach GLS the most expensive new car built in America, taking the title from the Acura NSX. With a great price comes great power, said to be a twin-turbo V8 with more than 560 horsepower. The coming GLS 450 will make do with somewhere around 360 hp. The Alabama plant, which also builds the GLE, GLE Coupe, and C-Class, is also undergoing a $1 billion upgrade to more than double the size of the facility, making lines for battery production and EQ-series vehicle assembly,

Daimler eMERGE2 test proves ignorance breeds dislike of EVs

Out with the old EVs, in with the new. Daimler announced today that it has finished up the eMERGE electric vehicle project that used Smart Fortwo Electric Drive cars and will now start up eMERGE2, which will use Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive and PHEV vehicles. As before, the tests will take place in Germany. The first, just-finished eMERGE program ran from May 2013 to June 2015 and put over a million kilometers (621,000 miles) onto 146 Smart Fortwo EDs. Daimler said that over the two years, the vehicle with the most efficient annual energy consumption used just 10.4 kWh for all of its 100 kilometers. The best full-charge range over the year was 161 kilometers (100 miles). Perhaps most interesting, though, was one of the projects findings: "the less an interviewee knew about electric mobility, the more negative their opinion" about the technology. In other words, here's some more proof that getting "butts in seats," as it were, is one reasonable way to promote electric driving. eMERGE: key contribution to developing the mobility of the future Stuttgart/Berlin, Jul 30, 2015 Broad-based real-world trial of eMERGE project completed Especially for daily distances of 50 km or over the E-car is financially attractive eMERGE2 fleet project now launching with 200 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive and plug-in hybrid models Stuttgart/Berlin – After more than one million kilometres in two years – from May 2013 to June 2015 – the real-world trial of electric cars known as eMERGE has been completed. Those taking part in the project were private and business customers with 146 smart fortwo electric drive cars from Berlin, Potsdam and North Rhine-Westphalia. Some of them set records: the lowest average energy consumption over one year was 10.4 kWh/100 km, while the longest range was 161 kilometres. The smart fortwo electric drive is certified with a consumption of 16.3 kWh/100 km and a range of 145 kilometres. The broad-based field trial within the framework of the eMERGE project has not only provided information on user behaviour and e-car technology; it also studied intelligent charging systems for improving the utilisation of the power supply as well as various pricing systems with regard to customer acceptance. Based on transport models, the project partners examined the need for a publicly available charging infrastructure. Within the project Daimler was responsible for collecting the driving and charging data required for evaluation of the field trial.