146 units in 2007 was only a tenth of the initial sales forecasts: not even the introduction of the Landaulet helped to increase volume.

Dieter Zetsche, Managing Director of Daimler, comments with ill-concealed disappointment at the sparse results produced in the last year by Maybach, and especially as compares to the growth of Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

Speaking with The Car Connection, the manager said however, that the glass is half full, given that the costs of developing the 57 and 62 are less than those of the competition. The close relationship with the Mercedes Class S, in fact, allows for wider earnings margins.

Continue reading: Maybach: the end seems near

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Some time ago we wrote about statements from AMG regarding the end of the war on power, with the explanation that future AMG cars with the CDI symbol would be manufactured with the environment in mind. It appears though that the possibility of explosive power is far too alluring to leave unexplored: and so AMG is proceeding in its development of the SL Black Series, perhaps the most powerful AMG ever.

According to reports of our favourite insider Auto Week, the new lethal weapon of the workshop will be powered with V12 6.0 already used on other 65 AMG: such an engine is capable of easily reaching 720 hp, even though the power would have to be regulated at 680 hp. The car has undergone a drastic “weight loss” (about 220 kg) using carbon fibre and more sporty components (brakes, fixed roof and an upgraded cooling system).

In addition, reports stated that the option of adding turbocharging technology combined with direct injection is being evaluated for the V8 6.3. “The increase in power,” as rumor-mongering had it, “would be limited though its presence would create ideal conditions for the adoption of direct injection.”

Via | Motor Authority

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Imagine a car that could move in the city in complete silence, without producing emissions. Now imagine this car on an Autobahn, at the speed of race track. Volker Mornhinweg, CEO of Amg, with these words officially launched the brand’s new direction.

The spasmodic search for maximum power has been abandoned and from 2012 all the range’s models will adopt direct-injection and stop-start tenchnology to limit consumption and CO2 emission levels. But that’s not all as Mornhinweg has announced that the possibility of developing a diesel or a hybrid will have to be carefully considered. “We want to offer more torque in our engines”, the director concluded, hinting that compared to six-cylinder Mercedes, a hybrid V8 would be more conducive to the prestige of Amg.

Via | Motorauthority

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Mercedes-Benz is warming up for the 78th edition of the Geneva Motor Show: the brand is coming with a massive five world premieres: the all-new CLC, the facelifted CLS, SLK and SL, and the CL 500 4Matic, that features for the first time the extremely light all-wheel drive system on this model. You can find the complete press release after the jump.

Continue reading: Mercedes-Benz at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show

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Maybach has announced the production version of the Maybach Landaulet - the semi-convertible ultra-luxurious limousine, with a 620 ps V12 bi-turbo engine and a € 900,000 price tag.

Probably Maybach hopes that such an over the top car will save the brands’ sagging sales. The first deliveries will start in the autumn of 2008.

Continue reading: The € 900,000 Maybach Landaulet

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Not everyone has heard of the creature that is the Unimog, a mega-truck produced by Mercedes-Benz and designed for the more ‘hardcore’ user. Well, we suggest they take a look at Fifth Gear’s test-drive, with Tom Ford (Wookie to his friends) who attempts to go along a specially designed course
to discover the limits of the German beast.

The Unimog has been recently ordered by the British Special Forces and the celebrated TV show could not wait to get their hands on this £90,000 super-toy. However, this was not without the supervision of a military driving instructor…

A bit of spec info on the Unimog: The 296bhp Straight 6 engine has an amazing 1120 Nm of Torque. The unit’s 11.9 tons can be pushed to around 55mph (100km/h) on road. Two specifications prove to be the most impressive: the exciting prospect of the “working gears” switch on the dashboard, which
allow the driver to select the range of gears desired depending on the terrain; and the ability to reduce the pressure of the tyres to allow up to 30% more traction on slippery surfaces.

The best part arrives in the final moments of the video when you have the opportunity to see one of the most insane things on four wheels: the Unimog Black Edition, a ‘sport’ version developed by Brabus that puts the seemingly impossible in your hands. Do you perchance have an annoying neighbour? Save
up £160,000 and this monster (which amongst other things has a leather and carbon fibre interior) will finally be at your disposal.

Via | German Car Scene

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Mercedes-Benz wins the “Environment Grand Prize” in Paris with its innovative Diesotto engine which, according to MB, “combines the best attributes of the petrol and diesel engine… as powerful and responsive as a V6 petrol engine and with the high torque and excellent economy of a modern diesel, accompanied by extremely clean emissions”.

The Diesotto engine features direct fuel injection, turbocharging and a variable compression ratio, with “homogeneous charge compression ignition”. The 1.8 liter engine outputs 238 hp and has a maximum torque of 400 Nm, with fuel consumption of just 5.3 litres per 100 kilometres on a car comparable to the S-Class.

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Mercedes-Benz engineers are working at a new, still enigmatic supercar, caught in this video while testing at the Nurburginger Nordschleife. It is clear that this test mule is based on the Mercedes SL, but we don’t exactly know yet what car is hidden under the camouflage.

Rumors say that the german automaker is developing a bunch of new supercars including a modern edition of the 300 SL Gullwing, the SLC, and the SL AMG Black Series.

This one should be based on the 6.2 litres V8 built in Affalterbach by AMG and will probably be much lighter than other SL versions, since it will get a new, fixed, carbon-fiber roof and other lightened body parts. Other notable features such as the huge fender flares, and a rear diffuser with quad exhaust pipes contribute to distinguish the Black Series from the “normal” SL AMG.

Via | MotorAuthority

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Here you are the first pictures of the 2009 Mercedes E-Class Station Wagon caught during tests in Germany. The camouflage is still pretty heavy, so this is not enough to have a definitive say on the final looks of the car, but we can assume that the body style will inherit many of the new C-Class and S-Class features. Plus, we know that the front will no longer feature the twin round headlamps. The new E-Class’ body seems to be sleeker than the previous model’s, especially in the rear.

Mercedes engineers are still working at quality and electronic glitches that have afflicted the current generation E-Class since its debut, so we should expect some simplification on the W212 (the next-gen’s codename). Problematic components such as the SBC, the electronic braking system developed by Mercedes-Benz, will be abandoned in favor of more conventional components.

Continue reading: Mercedes E-Class SW spy-shots

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Mercedes-Benz has (finally) announced the C 63 AMG Estate which will be shown in Frankfurt. It has also released 7 high resolution images of its new super-sports station wagon.

As anticipated, the Mercedes C 63 AMG Estate features the 6.2-liters V8 engine magnificently engineered by AMG in Affalterbach with a power output of 457 ps and 600 Nm of torque that drives the rear wheels through an AMG 7G-TRONIC 7-speed automatic transmission. The C 63 AMG Estate accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds and reaches a top speed of 250 km/h (electronically limited). Sales will start at the beginning of 2008, with a price of 69,853 € (incl. VAT, in Germany).

Continue reading: Mercedes C 63 AMG Estate - official press release

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