2006 Mercedes-benz Slk55 Amg - 34k Miles, Fully Optioned, Incredible Condition! on 2040-cars

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Mercedes says it's tops in luxury sales for 2012, not BMW

It turns out that Mercedes-Benz North America has legitimate claim to being the top selling luxury nameplate in the US in 2012.
While sources such as Autodata had put BMW in the top spot, registration data from R.L. Polk shows that Mercedes customers registering new vehicles topped the Bavarian automaker in the most recent calendar year. Polk says Benz posted 274,123 registrations, compared with BMW's 268,498.
In terms of sales posted, BMW had bested Benz 281,460 to 274,134. But sales are recorded somewhat inconsistently from automaker to automaker. Some book the sales as soon as they are shipped from factory to dealer. There is perennial gamesmanship between the two German rivals, and the sales numbers suggest that BMW pushed out some extra sheetmetal to dealers in the last four weeks of the year.

More German automakers may be afoul of US emission standards

Volkswagen has plenty of smoke to share, and that may mean fire for other German automakers that make diesel vehicles, says Automotive News. Earlier this month, European Federation for Transport and Environment said that BMW, Daimler's Mercedes-Benz and General Motor's Opel division are among other automakers that may have equipped their vehicles' diesel engines with similar software as VW's. That software was found to reduce emissions while a car is being tested for emissions and shuts down emissions-control systems during normal use. The European environmental group used data from the International Council on Clean Transportation. Automotive News notes that the European environmental group put out its own report earlier this month, before the VW scandal broke loose, but the report was pretty much overlooked. Now, VW is under fire after it was discovered that 2.0-liter diesel engines in the VW Jetta and Golf, and Audi A3, may be programmed to game the emissions system. VW sold almost a half-million diesel vehicles in the US during the past six years. Both BMW and Mercedes-Benz told Automotive News that the issue that befell VW doesn't apply to their diesel vehicles. Earlier this week, Volkswagen admitted its car ran the sneaky software, while the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has started a probe on the company. VW is setting aside more than $7 billion to pay for the alleged violations. Meanwhile, US taxpayers may have spent as much as $51 million a year to pay for subsidies related to VW's diesel vehicle sales in 2009 alone, according to the Los Angeles Times.

2016 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class First Drive

The name has changed, but the song remains, well, mostly the same. The updated 2016 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class (nee M-Class) is all about refinement and a new attitude. Further up the range things have gone all Daft Punk – harder, better, faster, stronger. Merc's bread-and-butter SUV was last revamped in 2012, and this redesign essentially grafts the company's new corporate face and tail onto the vehicle formerly known as ML. A two-bar grille runs the expanse between stretched headlights. Above them sits a more sculpted hood with dual power lines. Below all that is a bumper with three large intakes, similar to Mercedes' sedans. The sides are untouched, but in back you'll find a new LED taillight design and trapezoidal tailpipe finishers. On the AMG Line trim pictured here, the elements rendered in chrome on the base model – like the central guard in front and diffuser panel in back – are done in black. The interior changes start with the driver staring at a new three-spoke steering wheel front-and-center, and a larger, eight-inch infotainment display on the right. That screen stands proud of the instrument panel, with two vents flanking it to remind you this isn't a clean redesign. Compare that to the freestanding tablet look, like on the C-Class, and you'll get what we're talking about. Below the big screen are the infotainment and HVAC controls that we've been looking at since 2012. The center stack newness ends there. Below the big screen are the infotainment and HVAC controls that we've been looking at since 2012. They feel really old now – perhaps because these same dials and buttons were in the E-Class sedan in mid-2009. The controls on the console, however, are overhauled, with the glossy, swoosh-shaped COMAND controller taking up residence next to the driver's arm. Beside that are a few buttons controlling functions like ride height and hill descent control, as well as the new Dynamic Select knob. This dial controls up to six driving modes. There's Comfort, Sport, Slippery, Off-Road Light, and Individual. Buyers who opt for the Off-Road Package will get a sixth mode, Off-Road+. Mercedes expects only 10 percent of GLE customers will want that capability. Every GLE comes with the basic five-setting Dynamic Select knob, no matter which of the five engines are under the hood. Here's where things get tricky, so we'll list the details for the sake of clarity.