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2014 Mercedes C-Class: OFFICIAL – and it looks like a proper baby S-Class

The 2014 Mercedes C-Class (pictured) looks like a proper baby S-Class The 2014 (or 2015 if you’re in the US) Mercedes C-Class has finally been officially revealed ahead of its debut at the Detroit Auto Show next month, and it looks to be a convincing take on a proper scaled-down S-Class. With Mercedes launching a more credible range of compact cars beneath the C-Class – with the new A-Class and CLA – targeting younger, funkier buyers, Mercedes has taken the C-Class from the ‘entry-’level’ real Mercedes to become a properly grwon up luxury saloon, just smaller than its E-Class and S-Class siblings. The new C-Class is wider, longer and has a longer wheelbase – with most of the extra 3 inches in the wheelbase benefiting the rear passengers – yet it’s lighter and more dynamic than the model it replaces, thanks in no small part to an aluminium hybrid body that now has up to 50 per cent aluminium in its panels.

McLaren lock out front row in Australian F1 Grand Prix qualifying

Lewis Hamilton is on pole with Jenson Button alongside for the 2012 Australian F1 Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton is on pole with Jenson Button alongside for the 2012 Australian F1 Grand Prix after qualifying in Melbourne. Most of the pit lane thought McLaren had got it wrong with their new nose – a sleek nose instead of the stepped one almost all the rest of the field have this year – but as far as the opening qualifying of the 2012 F1 circus they seem to have got it just right. Hamilton set a stunning lap to open final qualifying, with Jenson Button managing to almost match his team mate with a lap just 0.152 seconds behind to make the front row a McLaren lock-out.

BMW-Toyota partnership may yield hybrid Z4, new Supra

The BMW-Toyota sports-car lash-up has been reported on for a couple of years now, but new information from a report in the U.K.'s Autocar sheds more light on the future of the BMW Z4 and what this year's Toyota FT-1 concept will ultimately herald. Like the current Z4, its predecessor and the Z3 before it, as well as every generation of Supra, the new platform will feature a front-mounted gasoline engine. From there, things look to be diverging wildly as technology marches forward.