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Daimler and Geely collaborate to develop 'a highly efficient modular engine'

BERLIN — German car maker Daimler said on Tuesday it will cooperate with China's Geely to build next-generation combustion engines for use in hybrid vehicles. Efforts to share development costs come as the growth potential for combustion engines faces the twin threat of the COVID-19 crisis and stricter fuel-efficiency and emission rules. "The companies plan to develop a highly efficient modular engine," a spokesman for Daimler said, adding that it would be used in hybrid drivetrains and manufactured in Europe and China. Geely declined to comment. The modular engine will be used in cars under different marques at Geely and Daimler, a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity as the companies are still in the early stages of developing the engine. News of the alliance was a surprise to Daimler's works council at its factory in Untertuerkheim, which specializes in electric and gasoline powertrain assembly. "We are speechless. There was not even a discussion about potential alternative manufacturing locations," said Michael Haeberle, the works council chief for Untertuerkheim. "We have the ability to build four-cylinder engines in Untertuerkheim, but there were no talks about it." Daimler said German factories will be retooled gradually to add electric drivetrains production. Most of the next-generation combustion engines will be made in China, business daily Handelsblatt reported. The alliance with Geely, which owns a 9.69% stake in Stuttgart-based Daimler, means that parts of Daimler's existing partnership with Renault could be pared back. A Renault source told Reuters that the Daimler-Geely project does not mean an end of cooperation between Daimler and Renault. Citing Daimler sources, Handelsblatt said the Daimler-Geely pact would save the German carmaker a "triple-digit million sum" — implying an amount above 100 million euros ($119 million) and less than 1 billion euros. Green Mercedes-Benz Volvo Hybrid Daimler Geely

2014 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Edition 507 still lights our fire

The current Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG may be in the autumn of its years, but it's still one of our very favorite sport sedans. Ever. Yes, its paddle-shift transmission may not always follow orders, but with stupendous levels of thrust from its charismatic naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8, ebullient rear-wheel-drive dynamics and that noise, we frankly don't care that it's getting on a bit.
As a sendoff of sorts for the current generation, Mercedes-Benz has just introduced a new Edition 507 model at the Geneva Motor Show, with 507 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque - an increase of 56 horses over the standard car. Mercedes credits the substitution of low-mass internals from the SLS AMG gullwing for the power bump, a tactic shared with the AMG Development Package upgrade that has been subsumed by this Edition 507. 0-60 is quoted at 4.1 seconds and top speed at 174 mph.
The Edition 507 borrows its aluminum hood from the C63 AMG Black Series Coupe, along with spidery new 19-inch wheels in either titanium gray finish or matte black with shiny rim flanges. As seen on our gallery car above, a sports striping package is also featured, as are glossy black grille, daytime running lamps, spoiler and mirror caps.

2015 Belgian Grand Prix is a return to scheduled programming

With summer intermission over, the second half of the Formula One season commenced in the Belgian countryside at Spa-Francorchamps. After qualifying, it looked a lot like the first half of the season with just a few minor changes. Lewis Hamilton was even more dominant in his Mercedes-AMG Petronas than usual, regularly taking half a second out of his teammate in just the middle sector of the circuit. Teammate Nico Rosberg tightened it up a tad for his final hot lap, but Hamilton still took pole by 0.45 seconds ahead of Rosberg in second. With his Williams back at a power track, Valtteri Bottas got himself up to third, although more than a second behind Hamilton. Romain Grosjean in the Lotus in fourth had his best qualifying performance since his fourth-place grid spot at the 2013 US Grand Prix. This was a huge boon for Lotus, the team facing another financial issue off track that threatened to have its cars impounded as soon as they left the circuit. Grosjean had to have his gearbox changed before the conclusion of six races, however, so the five-spot penalty meant he'd actually line up ninth for the race. Sergio Perez put the Sahara Force India in fifth, where we're more used to seeing his teammate Nico Hulkenberg, just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing in sixth. Felipe Massa got the second Williams in seventh, in front of the second Lotus of Pastor Maldonado in eighth. Then came the first and only Ferrari in the top ten, Sebastian Vettel qualifying ninth after a disappointing Saturday for the scuderia; teammate Kimi Raikkonen suffered gearbox issues and qualified way down in 16th. Carlos Sainz took tenth in the Toro Rosso. A new start procedure in Belgium meant drivers had to handle clutches on their own, without the engineers finely tuning bite points between the garage and the start line. That was in conjunction with another rule limiting the kinds of radio messages possible between engineers and drivers, aiming to put more of the car in the drivers' hands. After an aborted start when Hulkenberg's car quit while sitting on the grid, Hamilton made the most of the new procedure. His start wasn't amazing but he beat everyone else off the line, while those behind were alternately getting bogged down or leaping ahead. Midway through the first lap the top ten was Hamilton, Perez, Ricciardo, Bottas, Rosberg, Vettel, Maldonado, Grosjean, Massa, Marcus Ericsson. At the end of 43 laps, Hamilton would still be in the lead.