Mercedes-Benz News

  • 2018 BMW i3, 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show

    How would you know that the standard model for individuals buying new cars is dying? Sure, you could point to car sharing services like Car2go or Zipcar. Or you might point to ride hailing companies like Lyft or Uber. Maybe you think the subscription model for the Hyundai Ioniq Electric subscription service is the hot new thing. DON'T MISS: GM's Maven car-sharing adds Chevy Bolt EV electric cars (in LA) Here's another way: You could take a look at Fair, which just got up to $1 billion in debt and equity funding. Not to overstress the point, but some the money came from two big global...

  • Mercedes-Benz GLC F-Cell
    Mercedes, Smart, Daimler trucks update electric-car, electrification plans

    Mercedes-Benz has already laid out its plans for a portfolio of electric and electrified vehicles, and now parent company Daimler has announced further strategy refinements for Mercedes-Benz and its other brands. The Smart brand will become all-electric, it said, while its commercial truck...

  • BMW i Vision Dynamics concept, 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show    [photo: Tom Moloughney]
    Which (non-Tesla) maker will sell most electric luxury cars by 2020? Poll results

    Yes, yes, yes, we know: our readers and Twitter followers are largely very strong supporters of, and believers in, Tesla and its electric cars. Our challenge for last week's Twitter poll was that we get very, very few characters to post questions and a choice of four responses. So in asking which...

  • 2014 BMW i3 and 2014 Tesla Model S   [photo: Tom Moloughney]
    Will Tesla steamroller German luxury makers? Perhaps not

    It has become an article of faith among some Tesla fans and owners that the company will inevitably rise to compete with and ultimately defeat the titans of the global auto industry. This belief is especially prevalent for the luxury sector, where three German carmakers dominate the global market...

  • 2018 BMW 530e iPerformance wireless charging
    BMW, Mercedes to offer wireless-charging options for plug-in hybrids next year

    Every one of the modern electric cars on the market for almost seven years requires plugging in a cord to recharge the battery using grid electricity. Inserting the cord into the socket takes just a few seconds, and most cars today are charged overnight. But soon there will be another option...

  • BMW i Vision Dynamics concept, 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show    [photo: Tom Moloughney]
    Which maker will sell most electric luxury cars by 2020? Take our Twitter poll

    It has taken several years for European luxury makers to sort out what to do about the unexpected arrival of Tesla and its electric cars into a market they've dominated for decades. Sure, Lexus and a host of lesser Asian makes have competitive products somewhere between premium and luxury, but...

  • Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ concept, 2016 Paris auto show

    Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, announced that it will invest up to $1 billion to build electric SUVs and batteries in and around its assembly plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The plans, first reported reported Thursday in The Wall Street Journal (paywalled), represent a major expansion of electric-car manufacturing in the U.S. So far, Ford, General Motors, and Nissan produce either battery-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles at U.S. plants. (The plug-in Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan is built in Canada.) CHECK OUT: Mercedes-Benz electric cars to arrive sooner as urgency...

  • Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ concept, 2016 Paris auto show
    Mercedes EQC electric SUV reservations open in Norway, for 2019 delivery

    The country of Norway has been among the most ardent in urging drivers to buy zero-emission vehicles, offering a friendly market in which automakers can launch new electric cars. In fact, Norway was the first nation to announce a ban on the sale of new vehicles powered by fossil fuels; it's due to...

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric
    Which company's electric-car success will surprise us? Poll results

    Predicting the future is always hazardous, but for the auto industry, this is a particularly uncertain time. Four trends—electrification, connectivity, autonomy, and sharing—are coming together in a whirlwind that could rearrange the industry and its businesses within a decade or two...

  • Mercedes-Benz GLC F-Cell
    Mercedes-Benz GLC F-Cell EQ Power plug-in hydrogen crossover launches at Frankfurt

    It's a plug-in hybrid crossover, but it doesn't have an engine. It's a hydrogen fuel-cell SUV, but it has a feature no other hydrogen-powered car offers. It's the Mercedes-Benz GLC F-Cell EQ Power, launched Tuesday at the Frankfurt motor show. DON'T MISS: Mercedes-Benz GLC to offer world's first...

  • Mercedes-Benz EQA concept, 2017 Frankfurt auto show
    Mercedes-Benz Concept EQA small electric hatchback debuts in Frankfurt

    Following various teaser images, the Mercedes-Benz EQA concept for a compact all-electric hatchback made its debut on Tuesday at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. It's a preview of what will become a volume production car around 2020, competing against numerous 200-mile hatchbacks of the same size...

  • Mercedes-Benz EQ A Concept
    Latest image shows shape of Mercedes EQA compact electric car for Frankfurt show

    German luxury maker Mercedes-Benz has released another teaser photo of the electric-car concept it will reveal next week at the Frankfurt auto show. That vehicle will be the Mercedes EQA Concept, a compact electric hatchback that's one of several concepts that preview future products as the company...

  • 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf

    Sometimes the competition among global automakers can seem like watching a professional sports league. Powerhouse teams—GM, Renault Nissan, Toyota, VW Group, the four largest global makers—compete against each other as well as against smaller, scrappier upstarts with devoted and loyal fan bases. They field varied lineups of players (errrr, models) that change from time to time as the rules of the game evolve. DON'T MISS: Which carmaker will sell most electric cars worldwide in 2020? Poll results Often it takes time for brand-new players to become successful, and not every team...

  • Mercedes-Benz EQ electric car concept  [photo: Axel Harries]
    Mercedes plant to make batteries, electric motors after 113 years of engines

    The first vehicle in history considered to be an automobile was the Benz Motorwagen of 1885. It was also the first vehicle from an automaker that has been around for the duration of the industry: we know it today as Mercedes-Benz. In other words, the company has been building cars for 132 years...

  • Volkswagen TDI diesel vehicles owned by Phil Grate and family, Seattle, Washington
    Used diesel demand drops in Germany over fear of software upgrades

    Diesel-powered cars, long a staple on European roads, are starting to lose favor as million of dollars of inventory begins to pile up in used diesel models. The inventory, largely recent models certified under the superseded Euro-5 emission standards, has boomed recently over the possibility the...

  • 2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI SE
    VW, Mercedes, Opel, Fiat launch buybacks of dirtiest diesels in Europe

    Almost two years ago, the Volkswagen diesel emission scandal burst into public view, and nothing has been quite the same since then. The news that VW Group engineers had deliberately cheated on eight years of emission tests for the "clean diesels" sold by Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche sent...

  • 2016/2017 Formula E Hong Kong ePrix
    Mercedes, Porsche to join Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Renault in Formula E racing

    The changing of the guards in motor racing is underway: both Porsche and Mercedes-Benz have announced they will join the FIA Formula E electric-car racing series in 2019. To make that possible, both German teams will end their tenures in respected motorsport; Porsche will end its World Endurance...

  • 2018 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class
    Next Mercedes-Benz small cars to get even tinier engines

    Not so many years ago, a 1.2-liter engine would only have been found in the U.S. in the smallest and least impressive of subcompact cars. It might have been a 3-cylinder, and certainly wouldn't have had even 100 horsepower. But times change, and engines of that size will soon be found even in the...

  • 2013 Audi TDI range

    Both Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and Volkswagen Group have approved new plans to retrofit older diesel-powered vehicles with new software at no cost to owners. The largest number of such cars will be in Europe. The news comes amid the latest allegations surrounding German automakers and their brands' diesel cars—and more updates could be on the horizon. DON'T MISS: European fix for VW diesels complies with law, but real-world emissions still too high BMW has also committed to a voluntary program to retrofit older cars, though it has outright denied any wrongdoing on the topic of...

  • 2014 BMW 328d
    EU investigating diesel collusion among Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, VW: report

    As numerous political probes over the years have famously shown, once investigators dig into the circumstances around an alleged crime, anything can happen. The September 2015 announcement by the EPA that VW Group engineers had admitted to deliberate cheating on U.S. emission tests of the company's...

  • Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ concept, 2016 Paris auto show
    Mercedes to show all-electric hatchback concept this fall, countering Audi: report

    German luxury carmakers often follow each other's product plans in something close to lockstep. Let one maker—BMW, say—introduce a new category of vehicle—sport utility "coupes," say—and soon Mercedes-Benz and Audi will have their own too. And the premium brands appear to be...

  • Mercedes-Benz EQ electric car concept  [photo: Axel Harries]
    Mercedes to make electric cars at its China factory with BAIC

    It's not only electric cars: China is also now the world's largest market for luxury cars. Audi got an early foothold among party officials and high-ranking government officials, but the allure of global brands has ensured that Mercedes-Benz and BMW sell lots of cars there as well. Now, Mercedes...

  • Mercedes-Benz EQ electric car concept  [photo: Axel Harries]
    German electric-car industry centers in 'Silicon Saxony'

    Silicon Valley seems to grab many of the tech headlines in the United States, especially when it comes to autonomous vehicles, cars that plug in, and the future of transportation. Electric-car maker Tesla has undeniably contributed to Silicon Valley's automotive chops, but other makers are working...

  • Mercedes-Benz Energy Battery
    Mercedes launches home energy-storage battery, echoing Tesla

    As Tesla regularly points out, the lithium-ion battery cells used in electric cars can also serve in home energy-storage units. Now, a Daimler company will go up against Tesla in that field under the branding of its most famous luxury-car make. Mercedes-Benz Energy announced yesterday that it is...

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