Ford reportedly to shut down Mercury

The Mercury brand, rumored to be on the verge of death several times over the past decade, would be shut down under a plan being prepared for Ford Motor Co.'s board of directors, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. Citing two executives who have knowledge of the plan but asked not to be identified, the news service said the plan would be submitted to Ford's board in July. How quickly Mercury would be shut down depends how quickly the automaker can convince Lincoln Mercury dealers to close or merge with a Ford-brand dealership, the report said.

VW Tiguan facelift (2011) at 2011 Geneva motor show

VW will show the new-for-2011 Tiguan crossover at the Geneva motor show next month. The Tiguan has been given the latest VW design look and feel. So the front grille has been widened for a sleeker look, rounded front lights are swapped for more angular, crisper items.

Smaller Mercedes SLS confirmed, and with front-mounted V8 too

Baby Mercedes SLS AMG - or at least how it could have looked if mid-engined We’ve believed for some time that Mercedes were planning a smaller version of the SLS, but so far there’s been no official word. But that’s now changed, with AMG’s Christoph Jung telling AutoExpress that Mercedes and AMG are currently working on a smaller SLS, to go head-to-head with cars like the Porsche 911 and Audi R8. Interestingly, we’d thought that Mercedes would go the route of a mid-engined two-seater for the baby SLS, and that it would probably get a turbo V6. But it would appear not.