Sl550 Premium Package Amg Wheels One Owner Warranty Hard Top Convertible on 2040-cars

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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.

Autoblog Podcast #412

Episode #412 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Steven Ewing, and Brandon Turkus discuss the automotive news coming out of the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show and talk about the cars we're most looking forward to driving this year. Of course, the podcast starts with what's in the garage and finishes up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the rundown with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #412 The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics 2015 CES automotive news Cars we're most looking forward to driving this year In The Autoblog Garage 2015 BMW 428i xDrive 2015 BMW 435i xDrive 2015 Mercedes-Benz C300 4Matic Hosts: Dan Roth, Steven Ewing, Brandon Turkus Runtime: 01:30:05 Rundown Intro and Garage - 00:00 2015 CES - 19:54 Cars we want to drive - 36:07 Q&A - 58:59 Get The Podcast UStream – Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Podcasts CES BMW Mercedes-Benz CES 2015

Child cobalt miners: Automakers pledge ethical minerals sourcing for EVs

BERLIN - Leading carmakers including Volkswagen and Toyota pledged on Wednesday to uphold ethical and socially responsible standards in their purchases of minerals for an expected boom in electric vehicle production. Demand for minerals such as cobalt, graphite and lithium is forecast to soar in the coming years as governments crack down on vehicle pollution and carmakers step up their investments in electric models. To cover its plans for more than 80 new models by 2025, Volkswagen alone is looking for partners in China, Europe and North America to provide battery cells and related technology worth more than 50 billion euros ($59 billion). Talks with major cobalt producers, including Glencore, at VW's Wolfsburg headquarters last week ended without a deal. More than half of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country racked by political instability and legal opacity, and where child labor is used in mines. On Wednesday, a group of 10 leading passenger-car and truck manufacturers announced an initiative to jointly identify and address ethical, environmental, human and labor rights issues in raw materials sourcing. The partnership dubbed "Drive Sustainability" consists of VW, Toyota Motor Europe, Ford, Daimler, BMW, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo Cars and truckmakers Scania and Volvo. The alliance "will assess the risks posed by the top raw materials (such as mica, cobalt, rubber and leather) in the automotive sector," said Stefan Crets of the CSR Europe business network. "This will allow Drive Sustainability to identify the most impactful activities to pursue" to address issues within the supply chain.Reporting by Andreas Cremer.Related Video: Image Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images Green BMW Ford Honda Jaguar Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Automakers Toyota Volkswagen Volvo Green Automakers Green Culture Electric Scania ethics mining