New Mercedes S Class to use Maybach badge on top models?

Will the top-end Mercedes S-Class models get the Maybach badge? (S63 AMG pictured) Having tried to bring the Maybach badge back from the history books and build a car to compete with Rolls Royce, Mercedes finally admitted it hadn’t worked last year and called time on their Maybach adventure. But having spent untold millions on reviving the Maybach name – and giving it public awareness – it seems Mercedes may not be prepared to shelve the Maybach name completely as there seem to be plans afoot to badge the extra long Mercede S Class with the Maybach badge.

Tesla planning car to take on Nissan LEAF – and maybe sell out to Apple

Elon Musk is buoyed by the success of the Tesla S and the seemingly inexorable rise in Tesla’s stock which has allowed Tesla to repay its government loans way ahead of schedule. Now Musk has been getting adventurous in an interview with Bloomberg where he’s stated that the next plan for Tesla is to build a smaller, more affordable electric car that can take on the Nissan LEAF. Musk plans to stay in control of Tesla until plans for a news small EV are complete, and said: With the Model S, you have a compelling car that’s too expensive for most people.

McLaren Automotive Company created as an independent

The McLaren P11 will be the first of McLaren Automotive's new cars in 2011 The whole road car business at McLaren is to be made an independent company – McLaren Automotive – and is aiming to produce 1,000 cars a year by 2011 and 4,000 a year by 2015. McLaren plans that the cars they produce will be more exclusive, and more expensive, than the competition from Italy. The ball will start rolling with the McLaren P11, a car aimed squarely at the F430/Gallardo market.