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Mercedes celebrates with World Championship edition SL63

Mercedes has plenty to be celebrating at the moment, having just won the Formula One World Championship in spectacular style – taking the constructors' title by a huge margin and the top two slots in the drivers' standings as well. It almost goes without saying that the German outfit would celebrate with a special edition, and that's just what we're looking at here. Presented at a special celebratory Stars & Cars event in Stuttgart in front of 50,000 jubilant fans, the Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG World Championship 2014 Collector's Edition is based on Benz's twin-turbo V8-powered roadster but with some choice upgrades. Two versions will be offered: one in black with gold accents (displayed with the Silverstone circuit layout), the other in white with silver accents (and the Hockenheim map). One was designed by Lewis Hamilton, the other by Nico Rosberg. We'll let you sort out which one was done by which, but either way there'll only be 19 examples, each dedicated to a different grand prix circuit in the championship which Mercedes positively dominated – winning all but three, scoring eleven one-two finishes and landing on the podium at each and every one.

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

Mercedes surprised Hamilton with this steering wheel message

Lewis Hamilton had much to celebrate at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this past weekend. Not only did he win the race in commanding form (the 33rd in his career to make him the fifth most successful in Formula One history), but he also scored enough points (double on the season finale this year) to outpace his teammate and chief rival to win the world championship. Having already been crowned champion in 2008, that makes him one of only sixteen drivers to have won multiple world titles. It's a point his team at Mercedes didn't want him to miss, so on the cool-down lap at the end of the race, his pit crew radioed him the message "default 44" – an instruction that triggered this image to appear on the display in the middle of his steering wheel. Apparently Lewis, with plenty else on his mind (like getting his car back to the parc ferme in one piece and with enough fuel), didn't notice what was flashing in front of him. Superimposed, as you can see, over an image of Hamilton as a young lad still in karts is Lewis' name alongside those of the other two-time world champs: Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi, Alberto Ascari, Fernando Alonso and Mika Hakkinen. (Never mind those who've scored more than two titles.) Intriguingly, Hakkinen is the only other one among them to have won either of his titles under Mercedes power like Lewis did, though Fangio won two of his five titles motivated by Benz engines.