Email this page to your friend:
Though it's still over a year away from a world introduction, our spies have garnered details on the next
Mercedes E‑Class, code-named W212 and due at the 2009
Frankfurt Motor Show.
The next E‑Class will ape the S-Class’s wheel-arch extensions, rising character line below the door handles, massive bumpers, and greenhouse. A more sculpted wide-frame grille, the more geometric nasal air intakes, and the wedge-shaped profile should give W212 a sportier stance. Actually, early styling models show a certain affinity for the most recent efforts from
Lexus – such as the rectangular quad headlamps, the C-pillar treatment, and the taillights. This is, of course, ironic given that the
Lexus LS is famous for copying
Mercedes, but Stuttgart still has plenty of time to hone the shape. (You can see more of these spy photos in our
high-resolution photo galleries.)
Driver assistance in general is a major theme for W212. Expect lane-departure warnings, an eye-movement monitor, traffic-sign identification, road-condition sensors, and stability control that accounts for crosswinds, camber changes, and tire wear. However,
Mercedes will abandon electronic braking in favor of conventional brakes, although they will boast features such as wet-weather disc wiping and wheel-selective cornering brake control, as well as the usual anti-lock control. Optional ceramic-composite discs could be introduced top-down, starting with the AMG models.
We’ll get the usual V-6- and V-8 engines, plus a normally aspirated, 500-plus-hp 6.3-liter V-8 for the E63 AMG model.--
Brenda Priddy
Posted in : 2010, Frankfurt Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz, Shoppers, Spy Shots
Email this page to your friend:
For Jim Farley, a new arrival at
Ford and late of Toyota’s
Scion brand, the new Verve subcompacts offer a second chance to launch a new small car into an American market that’s clearly migrating to more fuel-efficient, more compact vehicles.
“The small-car market could be bigger than trucks” in North America soon, Farley said, which is why so much effort is being put into the Verve subcompacts.
Ford introduced a sedan concept of the Verve at the
2008 Detroit auto show today, and Farley confirmed the Verve is headed for production as a 2010 model. The
2010 Verve, Farley says, will be a new addition to Ford’s collection of hallmark nameplates.
“It is our future,” Farley said.
Ford still hasn’t decided which body styles will be offered when the Verve enters production. Along with the four-door concept,
Ford also showed the three-door Verve that had been introduced at the 2007
Frankfurt auto show. When it comes to the U.S., the conventional wisdom about hatchbacks selling poorly is being re-examined.
“Tastes about body styles are changing,” Farley said.
Posted in : 2008, 2010, Coupes, Detroit Auto Show, Ford, Frankfurt Auto Show, Industry News, Sedans, Shoppers
Email this page to your friend:
For almost two years, reports out of Oxford said the long-wheelbase
MINI was going to be called the Traveller. Concepts came and went—and we waited, and waited, and the blogs came up with Clubman as the putative name of the stretched
MINI.
This week in
Geneva, no less than Dr. Michael Ganal, a
BMW board member, confirmed what had become obvious: the Clubman it would be. Ganal also confirms that production development on the new vehicle is complete, which means a looming
auto-show introduction could happen anytime. As far away as
Frankfurt? We’ll hold off on a guess until we find out more about
New York, but Ganal told
Geneva crowds in a vague way that the Clubman would be out by the end of the year.
“The
MINI Clubman will share all the characteristic genes of the new
MINI generation as regards authenticity, design and go-kart feeling,” he also promised. We’ll be holding him to that one.
MINI Clubman spy shots – TheCarConnection.com
Posted in : 2007, BMW, Cars We Love, Europe, Frankfurt Auto Show, Geneva Motor Show, Hatchbacks, MINI, New York Auto Show, Spy Shots
RSS
Send Feedback!
;)
;)
;)
;)
