When Mercedes-Benz announced the termination of its superluxury Maybach brand, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said succinctly, “It would not be sensible to develop a successor model for the current Maybach.”

Now we know why. After a seven year stint of Maybach production, the marque has only sold approximately 3,000 units. What’s more, CAR had calculated that Daimler lost an unfathomable $500,000 for each Maybach sold.

With an initial investment of $1.3 billion, Daimler created Maybach to challenge Rolls Royce for hyper-luxury supremacy. However, while Rolls Royce enjoyed record success in China, Maybach had only sold around 200 vehicles in 2011. While the absence of Maybach will be dearly missed by rappers and drug cartels alike, Mercedes-Benz had announced the revival of its Pullman limo by 2013, which should fill the void perfectly.

GALLERY: Maybach

[Source: CAR Magazine]

The Mercedes-Benz G-Class is a funky, but rugged luxury SUV from the German automaker, and it appears that it’ll be in production until at least the year 2020.

Mercedes-Benz’s parent company Daimler has come to an agreement with Magna Steyr to extend the production of its G-Wagen in Graz, Austria and was able to get more favorable conditions along with a better price from Magna. Daimler went so far as to threaten Magna that the company would move production of the G-Class to Hungary but it appears that Magna conceded to Daimler’s wants and production will continue in Austria.

The G-Class was originally designed to be a rugged off-roader and a light military vehicle for the German Army. The plant in Graz began production of the SUV back in 1979 and is currently the longest produced Mercedes-Benz in Daimler’s history. Last year, 7,200 G-Class vehicles were made, and this year the number is set to 8,500. Mercedes hopes to hit an annual production of 10,000 for their G-Wagen.

[Source: Automobilwoche]

This may not be the most exciting news ever, but it’s definitely one of the cooler things to look forward to in the world of automotive safety. Mercedes-Benz has just unveiled their new active seat belt buckle technology that is designed for the rear passengers.

Essentially the buckles are now power-deployed and emerge from the seats when the rear passenger doors are opened. They’re then illuminated to help ease the process of finding the buckle for the seat belt. For those that have kids or ever had to buckle in kids at night, they’ll know how helpful a simple illumination of the buckle will be for them.

Once the passenger is belted in, the buckle will retract in order to reduce the slack around the pelvis and thorax area. The tech also works in conjunction with the PRE-SAFE system, automatically tensioning the belt if an accident is imminent.

The German luxury automaker announced that the new belt buckles will be offered in an upcoming model, but didn’t specify which one. We wouldn’t be surprised to see it in the next-generation S-Class, which promises to have more technology and more efficiency.

GALLERY: Mercedes-Benz Active Seat Belt Buckle Technology

Rumors of a new Mercedes Benz SLC sports car by AMG  to rival the iconic Porsche 911 were sparked last year. Now, new information from Autocar sheds some light.

According to AMG boss Ola Kallenius, the expansion of the AMG line-up is greatly dependent to the sales performance of its specialized vehicles. “AMG is a financial company and runs with targets, just like every other company. These products can’t just be built for fun. We need a reasonable return to new fund projects.”

The past year for the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG coupe proved to be a successful one. Not only have the sales provided AMG a return, but the “technologically fascinating” SLS succeeded in establishing the brand among the supercar elite as well. To this, Kallenius said, “Could we grow the family? Probably, yes, but that is not a decision we’ve made at this stage. What is clear is that we have entered a segment with an overwhelming reaction from customers and fans — and many of them are entirely new customers to AMG — so it would certainly be the right strategy to grow the AMG brand.”

We expect an entry level stand-alone AMG sports car to be on sale as soon as late 2013. With a projected price tag of £80,000, the two-seat coupe will likely receive power from an all-new 5.4-liter twin turbo V8 nesting in a front-mid-engine layout. Performance is expected to contest the Porsche 911 Carrera S with a 0-62 mph acceleration of 4.5sec and a top speed of 180mph. Engine variants, coupes and roadsters are expected as well.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Recently BMW revealed its new M Performance Diesel models, the M550d, X5 M50d, and X6 M50d, all of which are powered by the German automaker’s new 3.0L six-cylinder, tri-turbo diesel engine with 381-hp and 546 lb-ft of torque.

Unfortunately none of America will get to experience the new powerplant since BMW doesn’t find them fitting in the US market, but it appears as though AMG doesn’t find performance-minded diesel engines fitting in any market. The high-performance division for Mercedes-Benz vehicles, AMG head boss Ola Kallenius recently said that they have no plans to follow its German automaker rival in producing diesel engines, saying that it would introduce too many compromises to its performance-focused lineup.

“The technology of performance gasoline engines is converging with diesel tech. Direct injection, downsizing and turbocharging are all having an effect. We looked at diesel a few years back, but petrol engines have obvious benefits of sound, weight, agility and response,” Kallenius said.

We’re not ones to argue, considering AMG has a new 5.5L V8 Biturbo powerplant that puts out 544 to 571-hp with up to 664 lb-ft of torque. You could say some of us subscribe to the belief that if you’re looking for pure performance, fuel efficiency shouldn’t be of concern.

[Source: Autocar UK]

Mercedes-Benz will debut the A25 AMG, based on the A-Series concept, shown above, at the Paris Motor Show in September and plants to pack a new turbocharged engine under the hood.

The company is enlisting help from its own High Performance Powertrains (HPP) affiliate, which focuses on building F1 racing engines for the Mercedes team, among others. The A25 will get a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder which is based on the exisitng M271/M274 gas engine.

HPP called on its engine designers to come up with a product able to outshine the 2012 Audi RS3 Sportback’s 335-hp five-cylinder and the BMW M135i’s 316 hp straight six. Accomplishing that won’t be easy considering both the Audi and BMW can both bank on larger engine displacement to meet the mark.

This turbo 2.0L is also slated to find its way into CLC25 AMG and the CLC25 Shooting Brake AMG.

We’ll have to wait and see if Mercedes achieves the power that they are forecasting.

[Source: AutoCar]

About two months ago we reported a collection of luxurious and exotic machines that were involved in a bizarre accident in Japan that claimed at least eight Ferraris, three Mercedes-Benzes, a Lamborghini, a Nissan Skyline and a Toyota Prius.

The exotic car crash occurred on the Chugoku Expressway out in the Yamaguchi Prefecture and fortunately only ten people were hospitalized with just minor injuries.

Now a video of the aftermath from that accident has surfaced and it appears that Japan is now home to at least two parking lots full of fine machines just sitting and rotting. This accident is now being dubbed “the world’s most expensive car pileup” with an estimated combined cost of $4-million in damage.

Take a closer look at the Italian carnage after the break.

[Source: Carscoop]

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Our photographers have just caught up with the soon-to-be-revealed Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake.

Spy photos of the unique wagon-styled-coupe that’s actually a sedan (or is it a wagon now?) show a nearly-completed vehicle, suggesting it could make its world premiere as early as the Geneva Motor Show in March. Mercedes has already announced plans for the CLS Shooting Brake to go on sale by the end of this year.

When it does arrive look for power to come from the brand’s new twin-turbo 4.6-liter V8 with a choice of either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and if we’re really lucky, a CLS63 Shooting Brake may also be in the pipe with a twin-turbo 5.5-liter engine and well over 500 hp.

GALLERY: Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake Spy Photos

We don’t even know what the final version of the newly refreshed 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG looks like and people are already talking about how the first one to hit American soil will be auctioned off later this month.

On February 25, the Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance Gala in southern Florida will hold their sixth annual auction where one of the main vehicles headlining the event will be the 2013 SL63 AMG which has yet to be released. Among the other exotic cars joining the SL63 AMG on the auction floor will be the only 2012 Audi R8 GT Spyder that’s ever been treated to red livery and a Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4.

GALLERY: 2013 Mercedes SL Class

[Source: WorldCarFans]

The Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG is due to hit North American shores by March, and the luxury German automaker has announced that the performance-minded luxury SUV will start at a significant $95,865.

The listed MSRP includes a $875 destination charge and will net you a 5.5L V8 AMG biturbo engine with 518-hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. The down side? Fuel economy of just 16-mpg.

AMG will also offer a Performance Package that will increase power to 550-hp and torque to 560 lb-ft. The standard ML63 AMG jets to 60-mph in 4.7-seconds, while the Performance Package will knock a tick off to 4.6-seconds.

The Performance Package also comes with an AMG Performance steering wheel, red brake calipers and a carbon fiber engine cover. The top speed of the vehicle is also raised to 174-mph versus the standard 155-mph.

The 5.5L is mated to a seven-speed AMG SPEEDSHIFT Plus automatic transmission with several different modes of driving available to the owner. The ML63 AMG also features an air suspension system that is speed-sensitive, lowering the body at higher speeds to minimize drag while increasing stability.

Unfortunately no pricing was announced for the AMG Performance Package, but it’s a safe bet that it’ll push the ML63 AMG over the six-digit mark. Cha-ching!

GALLERY: 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML 63 AMG