Mercedes Plant Produces 750,000th A-Class and 500,000th B-Class

The 750,000th A-Class and 500,000th B-Class rolled off the production line at Mercedes-Benz' Rastatt plant in Germany. The two milestone vehicles, a lotus blue A 180 CDI and a horizon blue B 180 NGT with natural-gas drive will be delivered to customers in Germany and Great Britain respectively. Overall, the Stuttgart based automaker has produced a total of more than 2.35 million units of the two model series since the introduction of the first-gen A-Class in 1997 (second-gen model was launched in 2004) and the B-Class in 2005.

After Germany, the largest markets for the A- and B-Class are Italy, France and Great Britain while the biggest market for the two models outside Europe is Japan. At the beginning of 2009, Mercedes-Benz also introduced the B-Class in China.

Want to Drive the 2011 Mercedes SLS AMG Gulwing Supercar? Read On...

In a classic example of how press departments often miss the point / opportunity when it comes to marketing their own products and services, somewhere after the sixth paragraph in the release on the U.S. launch of the AMG academy this fall, Mercedes states: "Drivers attending the AMG Driving Academy Stage One at Laguna Seca Raceway from November 17-20 will have the opportunity to be among the very first to drive the most technologically advanced AMG ever – the all-new 2011 SLS AMG." Jeez, that should have been marked with big bold letters right in the title...

But anyways. For those of you residing in the States who are interested in test driving one of the most anticipated supercars of the year at the Laguna Seca race track, you'll have to sign up (see info below) for Merc's Stage 1 SLS program that demands a fee of $2,295 (roughly €1,650) which includes a one night stand stay at the InterContinental Hotel in Monterey.

Mercedes also offers two more programs for its AMG Driving Academy across three race tracks at Lime Rock Park, CT (September 9-15), Laguna Seca Raceway at Monterey, CA (November 7-8 & 17-20) and Palm Beach International Raceway at West Palm Beach, FL (September 22-27).

Aside from the aforementioned Stage 1 SLS, there's the one-day Stage I program designed to educate drivers on the fundamentals of performance driving dynamics and car control maneuvers (it'll cost you $1,895) and the Stage II which is a more comprehensive two-day program providing a deeper level of technical driver training, on and off the track. The latter costs $3,495 and is offered only to drivers that have completed Stage I or as Mercedes states, 'an equivalent course'.

Drivers attending these courses will have the opportunity to get behind the wheel of several AMG models including the all-new 2010 E63 AMG, SL63 AMG, C63 AMG, SLK55 AMG and the CLK63 AMG Black Series.

The fees mentioned above include a dinner reception, AMG Driving Academy certificate of program completion and an AMG gift bag. However, bear in mind that travel expenses and accommodations (expect for the Stage 1 SLS drive) are not included. If you want to learn more about the programs head over to AMG Academy's dedicated site or if you're the kind of person that prefers talking on the phone, you can contact Mercedes at 1-800-217-6916.

Daihatsu, Alfa Romeo and Mercedes Top Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study in Germany

For the first time since the launch of the study in 2002, Daihatsu has claimed the top spot in J.D. Power and Associates' redesigned 2009 Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study (VOSS) in Germany with a total score of 843 on a 1,000-point scale. The Japanese brand was followed by Alfa Romeo and Mercedes-Benz that tied in second place with 835 points, BMW was third with 834 points and Audi and Toyota that tied in fifth place with 831 points.

On the other side of the scale, Ford (796 points), Opel, Kia and Peugeot that tied with 790 points, Fiat (778 points), Chevrolet (775 points) and Smart (772 points) occupied the last five places in J.D. Power's 2009 German vehicle ownership satisfaction study. The industry average is 814 points.

Model-wise, Daihatsu's Sirion captured the top rank position in the small car category while Toyota received awards for the Aygo city car and the Corolla lower medium car. In the upper medium segment, Renault's Laguna finished first while Mercedes-Benz topped the executive / luxury and sports car segments with the E-Class and CLK Class models respectively.

Also receiving segment-level awards are the Skoda Roomster in the MPV group and the Nissan Qashqai in the SUV category.

J.D. Power and Associates' finding are based on 16,200 online interviews with German vehicle owners after an average of two years of ownership. According to the firm, German owners are asked to provide detailed evaluations on their cars and dealers covering 67 attributes grouped in four measurements of satisfaction including: vehicle appeal (32%) which covers performance, design, comfort and features; vehicle quality and reliability (26%); ownership costs (22%) including fuel consumption, insurance and costs of service/repair; and dealer service satisfaction (20%).

First Look at Wald's 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Black Bison Sports Package

No sooner than Wald International showed off the finished Toyota Land Cruiser Black Bison Edition, the crew over at Japan's 'house of styling' revealed their latest Black Bison project in the form of the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan (codenamed W212). We've only got a teaser photo to go by for now as the tuning company did not release any information whatsoever. However, expect the Black Bison Edition Sports Line package to include a full body kit, new alloy wheel designs and more likely than not, suspension and brake upgrades as well as interior enhancements.

VIDEO: 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan and Coupe Commercials go Live

Heralding the U.S. market launch of the all-new 2010 E-Class, Mercedes is rolling out what it calls its biggest marketing campaign in recent years. Oriented around the theme "Everything We Know, Everything We Are: This is Mercedes-Benz", the new marketing campaign comprises of both broadcast and print adverts. The first wave launches today with a six-week television flight while a second phase will start in September and run through October on primetime premieres and the NFL and college football seasons.

Aside from the 30 second plus TV adverts for both the 2010 E-Class Sedan and Coupe models that you can watch below, Mercedes-Benz has also readied three 15 second spots which focus on the car's safety technologies like Attention Assist, Lane-Keeping Assist and Distronic Plus.

Minor Updates for 2010 Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV

When a model remains in production with its hallmark traits virtually untouched since 1979, constant updates are more of a norm than the exception. Coinciding with the G-Class' thirtieth birthday, Mercedes-Benz added new interior features to its SUV model. The 2010MY G-Class benefits from newly developed front seats as well as a new rear bench with customers offered the choice between black or grey fabric upholstery and leather appointments either in black, grey or chestnut, or optionally, the new 'climatised' multicontour seats.

Mercedes did not release any interior photos of the updated G-Class, but the automaker said that the line-up now includes the so-called designo leather upholstery in classic red or black as well as designo wood trim in black piano lacquer. In early 2010, buyers will also be able to opt for the designo stone trim in Labrador blue pearl.

Other interior updates include the addition of an Aux-in socket in the glove compartment and a new ignition key while, indirect ambient interior lighting, a leather-trimmed dashboard, an extensive Chrome package as well as a media interface to connect an iPod, USBor Aux devices have been added to the options list.

On the outside, the 2010MY G-Class gets a modified spare wheel cover with a three-dimensional Mercedes star while the German firm has added two new paintworks to the mix, the "palladium silver metallic" and the "designo platinum magno" matt finish.

The G-Class is offered in three body variants (short Station Wagon, long Station Wagon and Cabriolet) that can be combined with either a 224HP V6 diesel (G 350 CDI) or two gasoline V8 engines producing 388HP in the G 500 and 507HP in the G55 AMG model. Mercedes-Benz recently decided to extend the production of the G-Class until 2015.

Mercedes-Benz CLS Grand Edition: 560 Units for UK Market

Mercedes-Benz has confirmed UK pricing for its limited production CLS Grand Edition that will be offered with four powertrain options. Prices start from £48,445 on the road for the diesel-powered CLS 350 V6 CDI with Mercedes claiming that the extra equipment and special features result in £2,142 of added value for the customer. Only 560 units of the CLS Grand Edition will be coming to Britain, with first deliveries starting in the beginning of July.

Customers have a choice of five colors, including, for the first time on the CLS, Palladium Silver. Standard features include a Bi-Xenon Light Package with Cornering Light Function and Active Light System, "designo" leather upholstery and special trim elements. For more details, click here to read our previous post on the CLS Grand Edition.

2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate Previewed Through Scale Model?

While Mercedes-Benz is trying to keep the prototype models of the next generation E-Class Estate hidden under heavy camouflage, a series of photos depicting a 1:43 die cast model of the car have made their way into various forums on the net. There's no mention of the name of the company that makes the scale model, but the build quality looks pretty high.

And even though there's no way of being 100 percent sure about the accuracy of the design, judging by the numerous spy shots we've seen so far (click here to check out the scoop pics), we'd say that the die-cast model's styling is very darn close to the real-life E-Class Estate that is due to be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September.

Source: Germancarzone , Via: WFC

VW wins 2009 International Engine of the Year, Mercedes Scoops Performance Engine Award

Volkswagen Group's 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger gasoline engine has been named the grand winner at 2009 International Engine of the Year awards ending BMW's four-year-streak. The four-cylinder unit that is offered in a variety of cars including the VW Golf and Seat Ibiza Cupra, also scooped the Green Engine of the Year award beating both Toyota's and Honda's new electric-hybrid powerplants, while the panel of 65 motoring journalists from 32 countries also named the 1.4 TSI the 1.0- to 1.4-liter Engine of the Year.

German manufacturers dominated this year's competition, winning 11 out of the 12 available awards. In the other categories, Porsche's direct injection 3.8-liter flat-six was named Best New Engine of 2009 while Mercedes' 6.2-liter V8 AMG unit won the Performance Engine of the Year as well as the Above 4-litre category.

Mercedes also took home an award for its 2.1-litre diesel unit that won the 2-litre to 2.5-litre category.

Last year's overall winner, BMW, secured three awards, the 3-litre to 4-litre category with the M3's 4.0-liter V8, the 2.5-litre to 3-litre class with its 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six and along with the PSA Citroen-Peugeot group, the 1.4-litre to 1.8-litre category with their 1.6-liter Turbo engine.

Toyota won the Sub 1-litre category with its 998cc, three-cylinder engine while Audi was rewarded for its 2.0-litre, four-cylinder TFSI engine in the 1.8-litre to 2-litre category class.

International Engine of the Year Awards 2009 Winners

Best New Engine of 2009 -->
Porsche 3.8-litre flat-six (911)

Green Engine of the Year -->
Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger (Golf, Touran, Tiguan, Jetta)

Performance Engine of the Year -->
Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre (CLK, S, SL, CL, CLS, ML)

Sub 1-litre -->Toyota 1-litre (Aygo, Yaris, Peugeot 107, Citroën C1, Subaru Justy)

1-litre to 1.4-litre -->
Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger (Golf, Eos, Scirocco, Touran, Tiguan, Jetta, Seat Ibiza Cupra)

1.4-litre to 1.8-litre -->
BMW-PSA 1.6-litre Turbo (MINI Cooper S, Clubman, Peugeot 207, 308

1.8-litre to 2-litre -->
Audi 2-litre TFSI (A4, A5, Q5, VW Scirocco, Golf GTi)

2-litre to 2.5-litre -->
Mercedes-Benz Diesel 2.1-litre (BlueEffieciency C-Class, BlueEffieciency E-Class)

2.5-litre to 3-litre -->
BMW 3-litre DI Twin-Turbo (135, 335, X6, Z4, 730)

3-litre to 4-litre -->
BMW 4-litre V8 (M3)

Above 4-litre -->
Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre (CLK, S, SL, CL, CLS, ML)

The International Engine of the Year 2009:

Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger (Golf, Eos, Scirocco, Touran, Tiguan, Jetta, Seat Ibiza Cupra)

Mercedes-Benz Launches Special Edition C-Class Models

A new special edition model has just been added to the Mercedes-Benz C-Class range. Available as a saloon and an estate with all the C-Class engines, the Special Edition models feature unique exterior and interior styling elements while Merc has also upped the car's standard equipment list. On the outside, key traits include the darkened headlights, shoulderline trim strips in polished aluminium and front grille finished in silver matt with chrome highlights.

The Special Edition C-Class models also get front fog lamps with a chrome ring and chromed twin louvres, chrome highlights in the bumper, rub strip and boot lid plus the B-pillar trim painted glossy black. The car's exterior looks are rounded off by a set of 17-inch 5-spoke alloy wheels with mixed-size tires (235/60 R 17 at the front, 255/55 R 17 at the rear), though customers can opt for 16-inch 7-spoke alloys and 205/55 R17-size tires all round.

Color options for the Special Edition C-Class range are limited to a new indium grey paintwork along with 'obsidian black', 'palladium silver', 'iridium silver' and 'calcite white'.

Based on the AVANTGARDE design and equipment line, the interior of the Special Edition gets unique tow-tone seats made from black ARTICO leather and fabric in como beige, trim parts in brushed aluminium and specific floor mats. There's also contrasting stitching embellishing the seats, center armrest and door center panel.

Among other things, the Special Edition's standard equipment includes a multifunction leather steering wheel, Intelligent Light System featuring bi-xenon headlamps with variable light distribution and a Parktronic system.

Prices depend on which engine is ordered, but Mercedes said that the additional charge on the respective Avantgarde models is between €2,689.40 and €3,879.40 with the leather/fabric seats and €4,629.10 and €5819.10 with a full leather upholstery.

Mercedes R-Class Black Bison Edition by Wald International

The latest member to join Wald International's 'Black Bison' family is the Mercedes-Benz R-Class. The styling package from the famed Japanese tuner makes the German crossover look every bit as aggressive as the other Black Bison edition models. The body kit includes new front and rear bumpers, side skirts and a blacked out front grille, as well as an integrated rear diffuser that shrouds quad tailpipes.

A set of larger mutlispoke alloy wheel finished in glossy black and a sport suspension kit that lowers the Merc's ride height complete the package. In keeping with its secretive nature, Wald International has not released any further details or prices for that matter.

Via: Autoblog.nl