Honda Motor Scooter Guide

The Metropolitan model from Honda offers single seating for the modern rider. This scooter is perfect for the driver looking for sharp European design while being fuel efficient. Automatic transmission is also a perk for those who are new to riding scooters as shifting gears may seem intimidating. A 49cc engine gives a top speed of 40 miles per hour which is plenty fast for local around-town driving or commutes that do not involve travel on highways.

REPORT: Mercedes-Benz secretly axes the SL 65 AMG super roadster

A recent report indicates Mercedes-Benz execs have quietly decided to discontinue the SL 65 AMG variant from the portfolio of the Affalterbach-established tuner after the SL 600 was also mysteriously killed off weeks ago. Many speculate this radical move has to do with premiere of the new SL-Class sometime in 2012 and shows a repositioning towards the use of powerful, but thirsty V12 engine for the next generation of models. It could possibly mean we won't see a new SL 65 AMG in the future, but lately Mercedes-Benz has not refuted the rumored plans pointing out the intention to build an entirely novel 12-cylinder powerplant that could spawn at least 550 hp in standard form, for the 600 versions. This also brings some hope for a newly-engineered AMG V12 unit which might boast around 650 hp-700 hp if it comes out in the end. Anyway, now we are left solely with the limited series SL 65 AMG Black Series and perhaps the BRABUS, Lorinser, Carlsson & Co. tuned SLs to quench the will to drive a magnicifent V12-powered open-top. Hope those will still live on for a while until the new SL arrives.


Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

REPORT: Mercedes-Benz on the trail of becoming leader of the premium segment

In a recent interview, Dr. Dieter Zetsche, head of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz Cars, expressed his desire that one day, in the near future, Mercedes-Benz would reach the needed sales level as to become the No.1 premium car constructor in the world. He is reported to have sent an official letter to company employees generally explaining them the current situation and the neccesary action that must be carried out immediately to begin the long expedition to the top: [...]“Some of our competitors are now growing faster and more profitably than we are. Granted, those are just snapshots in time and should not be overestimated. After all, many of our best new products are yet to come. We can’t be content to be in a solid second or even third place. We are Daimler – we should be far ahead of the pack! And if it requires something we don’t have, we’ll identify and develop it.”[...], Zetsche stated. Although Mercedes-Benz posted increased volumes in the last months and the highest Q2 profit in history, the Stuttgart-based carmaker still falls well behind the two main contenders: BMW on pole position with 689,861 sold models and Audi on 2nd with 652,970 units compared to Mercedes-Benz' 610,531 delivered in the first six months of 2011.


Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Good Demand Situation: Mercedes-Benz Works Extra Shifts also in South Africa

Owing to the good demand situation, the Mercedes-Benz plant in East London also is increasing its output: beginning in July, the plant will work additional shifts in its passenger cars production also on the four Saturdays of August. In July the largest number of right-hand-drive vehicles in the history of the East London plant rolled off the assembly line.


Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, member of the Board of Management responsible for Manufacturing and Procurement Mercedes-Benz Cars & Mercedes-Benz Vans: "The C-Class is selling outstandingly well. To meet the high customer demand we are working extra shifts in production also in South Africa."

Rainer Ruess, head of the Mercedes-Benz East London plant: "With the entire team putting in a great effort, we are producing at the limits of capacity in East London – never before did we build so many vehicles for right-hand-drive markets in one month as in July."

Globally, since the first month of its introduction to the market the new generation of the C-Class Sedan has defended the top position in its class. In all, Mercedes-Benz posted 11.4 percent higher sales in the C-Class segment in the first half of 2011 – in June even 18.7 percent.

Many awards for production quality

The East London plant's excellent production quality has repeatedly won recognition: just recently the renowned market research institute J.D. Power and Associates presented East London, together with the Mercedes-Benz Bremen plant, a Gold Award as the best car production facilities in Europe and Africa. Last year East London received a Platinum Award from J.D. Power as the best auto industry plant worldwide; in 2009 it was also the recipient of a Gold Award.

About the Mercedes-Benz East London plant

Mercedes-Benz has had a presence in South Africa since 1954 and acquired majority ownership of the East London plant in 1984. The current C-Class belongs to the third vehicle generation to be manufactured on South Africa's Eastern Cape. Since the year 2000 the plant exports sedans to right-hand-drive markets; since the start of production of the new C-Class in 2007 it also manufactures left-hand-drive vehicles for export to the USA. In 2010 about 2300 employees manufactured more than 52,000 vehicles. Beginning in 2014 the East London plant — as one of four global locations alongside the C-Class competence center in Bremen, the US plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and the Chinese production facility Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd. (BBAC) — also will produce the successor generation of the current C-Class.

Source: Daimler AG

Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Mercedes-Benz Classic: Topics in September 2011

Event: Mercedes-Benz Classic at the ADAC Eifelrennen, 9 to 11 September 2011.

Event: Mercedes-Benz Classic at the Goodwood Revival, 16 to 18 September 2011.

125 years ago – on 5 September 1886: the newspaper “Generalanzeiger der Stadt Mannheim” dedicated a comprehensive feature to the patented motor car designed by Benz and announced that “Mr Benz is now to begin building such carriages.”

50 years ago – from 21 September to 1 October 1961: premieres at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt/Main included the Mercedes-Benz 300 SE (W 112), featuring automatic transmission, air suspension and dual-circuit brake system on front and rear wheels as standard. The 190 and 190 D models (W 110) and the new 220 SE Cabriolet (W 111) were also unveiled.

25 years ago – on 1 September 1986: Daimler-Benz offered all petrol engine-powered passenger car models with a three-way catalytic converter as standard.


Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

AMG Customer Motorsport: 24h Race Spa-Francorchamps - Podium for Black Falcon

Black Falcon was the best of the four Mercedes-AMG customer teams with the near-production SLS AMG GT3 in the 24h race at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. After the race twice around the clock, Kenneth Heyer/Thomas Jäger/Stéphane Lémeret finished third, 10 laps behind the winners. After a total race distance of 545 laps and 3,817 kilometres, this is a gap of only 70 kilometres. British twins David and Godfrey Jones, both 58 years old, also underlined the excellent performance of the gullwing car, improving by 19 positions against strong competition and coming home seventh together with their “junior” partner Mike Jordan, 53.


After the 24h race over the legendary Nürburgring five weeks ago, this was another highlight of the Mercedes-AMG customer sports programme. Seven gullwing cars based on the production Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG which had all been entered by private teams had started the race twice around the clock on Saturday at 16:00 h. Graff Racing with Phillippe Haezebrouck/Massimo Vignali/Mike Parisy/Gilles Vennelet were the fastest qualifiers with the gullwing car in ninth place.

The podium finish of the car with starting number 35 was also a nice anniversary of the first success of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG. 40 years ago, Kenneth’s father Hans surprisingly drove that touring car to a class victory and second place overall in the 24h race at Spa which was the car’s first outing. The Black Falcon SLS AMG GT3 was coloured in the same red and had the same starting number.

Thomas Jäger: “We are very happy about our podium finish today after such a demanding race. The Spa-Francorchamps circuit is not only one of the most beautiful, but also one of the most challenging circuits in the world. After a few incidents in the beginning, we drove a consistent race. Performance and reliability of the SLS AMG GT3 were the keys to today’s success. This is good also for the other three gullwing cars which saw the flag – they all improved significantly from the respective grid positions.” - In the course of the best possible support of Mercedes-AMG for their customer teams, test driver Thomas Jäger is racing alternately for the teams.

The results of the Mercedes-AMG customer teams in detail:

Black Falcon, start no. 35, Kenneth Heyer/Thomas Jäger/Stéphane Lémeret: 19th on the grid. Despite a few smaller incidents during the opening stages, the car improved continuously with consistent and fast lap times and finished the race on the podium in third position.

Team Preci-Spark, start no. 90, David Jones/Godfrey Jones/Mike Jordan: Grid position 26. The British twins with their partner moved up 19 positions and came home seventh, ending up second in the Pro-Am class. The Jones brothers’ car was the first SLS AMG GT3 which had been delieved to customers in March.

Black Falcon, start no. 38, Andrii Lebed/Bret Curtis/Peter van der Kolk/Jeroen van der Heuve: Grid position 40. The second Black Falcon SLS AMG GT3 finished the race in 12th place.

KRK-Racing Team Holland, start no. 16, Raf Vanthoor/Marius Ritkes/Bernhard van Oranje/Dennis Retera: No ranking in qualifying following an accident. After repairing the gullwing car, the Belgian team moved up from the back of the field to 16th at the chequered flag.

Graff Racing, start no. 55, Phillippe Haezebrouck/Massimo Vignali/Mike Parisy/Gilles Vennelet: Ninth on the grid and best gullwing car in qualifying. They retired after 367 laps.

Graff Racing, start no. 54, Olivier Panis/Eric Debard/Grégoire Demoustier/Nicolas Lapierre: 18th in qualifying. The team with former Formula One and McLaren Mercedes test driver Olivier Panis stopped after 364 laps.

KRK-Racing Team Holland, start no. 15, Mike Hezemenas/Anthony Kumpen/Koen Wauters: Position 12 in Qualifying. The faster of the two KRK SLS AMG GT3s retired after 151 laps due to an accident.








Source: Daimler AG

Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.