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The most or nothing: Mercedes-Maybach S650 Cabriolet pushes the luxury limits

After the introduction of the Mercedes-AMG GT Roadster at the Paris Motor Show this fall, we informed you that Mercedes-Benz has a convertible conundrum, a surplus of drop-tops that seemingly threatens to self-cannibalize within the brand's ever-proliferating lineup. Benz's head of design, Gorden Wagener, who spends much of his time in Southern California, argues it's not a problem: Each convertible, in its ideal construction, would intrinsically vanquish any issues. "The bad is the enemy of the good," he said, not exactly quoting Nietzsche. Now, the three-pointed star brand has upped the top-down ante, with the unveiling this week at the Los Angeles auto show of the Mercedes-Maybach S650 Cabriolet, a vehicle so opulent, it sits in price and position atop the uber-luxury brand's current top-of-the-line offering, the $247,900 Mercedes-AMG S65 Cabriolet. View 24 Photos "Mercedes-AMG is our performance brand so it's all about performance stuff," says Wagener in a one-on-one interview on the roof of a Beverly Hills mansion just before the new car is unveiled. "Of course, Maybach has power, too, but it's the ultimate in luxury. So it's more on that side. And for me in the interior, it's the haute couture of the automobile, so we tried to up that a little more with details. And on the exterior, it's a more superb appearance up front, more chrome, more rich, and of course we tried to up that branding even more. The S-Class is the best car in the world, we consider, I always thought we could raise the Mercedes brand. And it's the same with the S convertible." Why does Mercedes-Benz need a flagship atop its flagship? Because, when climbing the mountain of automotive luxury there is always the customer who, when he or she reaches the pinnacle, wants more. A car brand, especially one with deep pockets and luxurious heritage like Mercedes, can always further gild the automotive lilies, creating a step up for those for whom the brand's motto, The Best or Nothing, is a literal life credo. "It's always our job to make it better," Wagener says. "Each little detail, the wood, the wood under cover of the cabriolet, the leathers. All the super luxury details that make a luxury car into a super luxury car. The key is to make a modern luxury design and not a traditional luxury design. There is definitely a market for traditional luxury, but we always wanted to have Mercedes, Maybach in particular, as a modern luxury car.

Autoblog Minute: New Civic, FCA UAW Agreement, Frankfurt

FCA reaches a tentative agreement with the UAW, Honda reveals the all-new 2016 Civic, and the Frankfurt Motor Show dazzles us again. Autoblog senior editor Greg Migliore reports on the Weekly Recap edition of Autoblog Minute. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] FCA reaches a tentative agreement with the UAW, Honda reveals the all-new 2016 Civic, and the Frankfurt Motor Show dazzles us again. I'm senior editor Greg Migliore and this is your Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. FCA reached a tentative labor agreement with UAW leadership. The major focus of the new deal reportedly includes: the eventual elimination of the two-tier pay scale [00:00:30] and pooling worker health care. Now that a leadership agreement is in place, the deal will be sent to FCA's rank-and-file. FCA has about 36,000 hourly employees. We got a first look at the interior and exterior of the 10th-generation Civic. Honda expects the new sedan to dominate the C-segment when it hits dealerships later this fall. Civic coupe, five-door hatchback, Si and Type R will all come later. The 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show is in the books and there was a lot of news to get excited about. [00:01:00] Porsche introduced a fully electric concept car in the Mission E. If they make this car, Porsche could give Tesla nightmares. We also saw SUVs from Jaguar and Bentley. There were two beautiful Italian convertibles from Ferrari and Lamborghini. Meanwhile, Mercedes introduced a concept of their own in the IAA - a vehicle that experiments with adaptable aerodynamics. Those are the highlights from the week that was. Be sure to check out my full recap this Saturday. Plus we'll have some added insight on General Motors' deal to [00:01:30] avoid federal prosecution. For Autoblog, I'm Greg Migliore. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals. UAW/Unions Frankfurt Motor Show Bentley Chrysler Ferrari Honda Jaguar Lamborghini Mercedes-Benz Porsche Rolls-Royce Tesla Convertible SUV Concept Cars Electric Supercars Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video porsche mission e concept

2015 Japanese Grand Prix is a little Mercedes, a lot of zen

Just one week on from the issues in Singapore Mercedes-AMG Petronas appeared to have solved its clamp problems and everything else. Daniil Kvyat at Infiniti Red Bull Racing took the two Free Practice scalps on Friday, but when it came time for qualifying the front of the grid looked really familiar: Mercedes' Nico Rosberg took his second pole position of the season, Lewis Hamilton next to him in second. Kvyat had a hand in that, too, the Russian getting into a big accident in Q3 when he put two wheels on the grass heading into the hairpin and veered into the tire wall so hard that he flipped. That ended qualifying before a number of drivers had a chance to improve their times, Hamilton among them. That's how Valtteri Bottas got in third for Willliams ahead of Sebastian Vettel fourth for Ferrari. Felipe Massa had the second Williams in fifth, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari. Daniel Ricciardo lined up sixth for Infiniti Red Bull Racing, a team we're going to have to enjoy watching for the rest of the season since it might not exist come 2016. Romain Grosjean gave Lotus some good news by getting into eighth, the team so strapped for cash that it couldn't get into its hospitality area, so it held press conferences outside and ate at Bernie Ecclestone's Paddock Club. Sergio Perez took ninth for Sahara Force India, and Kvyat slotted into tenth after not setting a time. The Russsian's race would begin from the pit lane once his mechanics rebuilt his car. It wouldn't be a Formula One start lately without someone at the front having clutch problems. This time it was pole man Rosberg, whose power unit got too hot and put him a few horsepower down on Hamilton through Turns 1 and 2. That's half of how Hamilton took the lead from the lights going out, and the Brit kept it throughout the race. Rosberg, however, said his race was lost when Hamilton pushed him wide through Turn 2, a move Hamilton defended. Rosberg finished almost 19 seconds behind his teammate, a gap that probably isn't fully explained by that opening incident. Hamilton's race was so uneventful that we almost never saw him on camera – that is, we saw him so much less than we usually see him when he's out in front and unpressured that Nikki Lauda said he'd ask Ecclestone why the cameras avoided him. The conspiracy theory holds that FOM was punishing Mercedes for not supplying Red Bull with engines next year.