mercedes

CANNES, France--The Cannes Film Festival wrapped up this weekend and I joined the throng of media shuffling wearily through the Nice airport and away from the perfect sunshine of the French Riviera--but not before having had a look at the obscenely expensive toys of the proverbial nouveau riche.

When not attending screenings, I had a chance to skulk around the Plage de la Croisette along the Mediterranean shore to spy big-ticket items soon to be for sale to those with the most disposable incomes.

I could not avoid the gold- and diamond-encrusted smartphone and tablet cases. In every case, no photography was allowed inside the elite boutiques featuring such accessories. Anyone taking a snapshot of an emerald-studded BlackBerry kit would only be scouting trouble.

So how much were these decorative doodads? A single refrain rules in shops like this: "If you have to ask, don't bother."

But not everything was under wraps. … Read more

Mercedes-Benz this week released pricing information and specs on the all-new CLS-Class coupe.

This is a major redesign for Mercedes. The four-door coupe is 1.2 inches longer and wider than its predecessor, and with new biturbo direct-injection V8 engines, the three trims offer some surprising features.

The CLS550 features a new 4.6-liter direct-injection twin-turbo V8; delivering 402 horsepower and 443 lb.-ft. of torque. It is equipped with new electrically assisted power steering, Airmatic air suspension, and a revised seven-speed automatic transmission. The CLS550 will offer an estimated 18 mpg city and 26 mpg highway.

The 2012 CLS63 … Read more

Mercedes-Benz released photos of its upcoming convertible SLS AMG Roadster undergoing testing in Stuttgart. Barely disguised with black adhesive foil at the front, rear and along the sides, the Roadster appears to have the same body proportions as its coupe sibling, which debuted at the 2009 Frankfurt International Automobile Show, but sans gullwings and a fixed roof.

The Roadster will be equipped with a 6.3-liter V-8 engine that produces 563 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque. Chopping the top off the SLS required a few structural changes. To create driving dynamics that are identical to the coupe model, Mercedes … Read more

The German automakers' battle to dominate China's luxury market is about to spread to a new product segment: small cars and crossovers.

Mercedes-Benz and Audi have chosen the Shanghai auto show for the world debut of two models: a small hatchback dubbed the Mercedes Concept A-Class and the Audi Q3 crossover.

The four-seat Concept A-Class, which is positioned as a sporty rival to the BMW 1-series and Audi A3, is powered by a turbocharged, direct-injection 2-liter gasoline engine that generates 210 horsepower.

The front-wheel-drive car's four-cylinder engine is mated to a dual-clutch transmission.

Other features include a radar-based … Read more

Mercedes will show a more sporty and aggressively styled A-Class concept at the New York International Auto Show later this month. The carmaker says it used wind, waves, and aviation engineering as the design inspiration for what will likely be the next generation A-Class.

Images of the luxury compact show a complete design overhaul compared with the existing A-Class hatchbacks tooling around Europe. Sharp lines flow throughout the exterior, accentuating the vehicle's deep curves and edges. Featuring an elongated hood and redesigned headlamps, grill and fenders, the new body lines and structure almost tricks the viewer into thinking the … Read more

It's like banning high school football in Texas, surfing in Hawaii, or gambling in Nevada: The new party in power in the German state that's home to Porsche and Mercedes-Benz wants to impose speed limits on highways.

Last week Germany's Green party won an election in Baden-Wuerttemberg on a platform that includes a speed limit of 75 mph to help reduce vehicle emissions. On German autobahns without speed limits, 75 won't get you out of the slow lane.

About 65 percent of the state's highways currently have no speed limit, Bloomberg reported.

"Traffic in … Read more

Mercedes voluntarily issued a recall for 2000-2002 M-Class and 2000-2004 M-Class AMG vehicles due to a faulty brake lamp switch that could affect drivers' ability to disengage cruise control.

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration investigated Mercedes in September 2010 in response to a driver's complaint about the M-Class's faulty cruise control. The safety organization found that brake lamp switch failures could potentially affect the system under certain braking circumstances.

In some M-class SUVs, drivers can disengage the vehicle cruise control system using the cruise control stalk, or by braking quickly with either significant force or by … Read more

The idea of a van conversion is nothing new. Consider the water-bed-toting vans of the '70s with their diamond-shaped portholes and air-brushed scenes from Yes album cover art on the sides. But a company called Brilliant Transportation has updated the idea of the van conversion for our less whimsical age.

Enter the Brilliant Van, a conversion based on a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. The tall Sprinter allows stand-up room inside, and Brilliant fits it with leather recliners and two 32-inch LCD TVs fed by DirecTV. A color printer and a 3G Wi-Fi hot spot enable type-A personalities to keep busy. The Brilliant Van even has a hardwood floor.

We've always liked Mercedes-Benz's Sprinter van, a practical vehicle with easily configurable interior space. Freightliner has sold them since 2001 in the U.S., and Dodge even got to put its own badge on the Sprinter when Daimler owned Chrysler. The Sprinter is powered by a 3-liter diesel V-6, giving the vehicle 400 miles range. Mercedes-Benz fits it with its Adblue emissions clean-up system to make it comply with U.S. regulations.

You could probably buy one of these vans from Brilliant Transportation for the right amount of money, but the company is really in the business of rentals. Based in New York, the clients for its chauffeurs-driven vans are mostly businesses and entertainers. … Read more

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 not only showed up at the Amelia Island Concours D'Elegance in Jacksonville, Fla., but Mercedes-Benz Assistant Product Manager William Vetter took a few minutes to host a video walk-around of the race car.

The video shows the race car's features, from the lowered, lightweight carbon fiber body to the features on the steering wheel, from the gear-shift paddles to the button you can push to take a sip of whatever beverage you've got squirreled away.

There are other cool features such as a center console button that literally blows the doors off … Read more