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Autoweek's top-12 most read stories of 2012

From an infamous Texas house fire, to the death of one of the greats, autoweek.com's top-12 most read stories of 2012 offer a look back at a wild year. This year while we tested some of the best enthusiast vehicles, ran around auto shows and spoke with automotive movers and shakers, we kept track of what piqued your interests. What, you thought we weren't paying attention?

Volvo WILL build a luxury car to take on the Mercedes S-Class

Volvo WILL build a luxury car to take on the Mercedes S-Class (Concept You pictured) Volvo has done a lot right – and not much wrong – since Geely took over the reigns from Ford. With new cars like the V40, a new range of 4-cylinder engines and a new design direction – previewed by the stunning Volvo Concept Coupe – the Swedes look to be on a roll. But their strategy of pointing their cars at premium car lovers in the mainstream segment seemed to have taken a left turn with a revelation by Geely and Volvo Chairman, Li Shufu, who has declared Volvo are to build a luxury car to take on the might of the Mercedes S-Class, Audi A8, BMW 7-Series and Jaguar XJ.

New Mercedes ML to be the Mercedes GLE

The Mercedes Concept Coupe (pictured) will arrive as the Mercedes GLE Coupe Car makers’ model ranges have grown massively in recent years and that, in a lot of cases, has left traditional model designations floundering to inform potential buyers. Mercedes has made some moves of late to address the lack of clarity in model designations (the Mercedes CL, for example, has become the new Mercedes S-Class Coupe), and new models have started to arrive with more descriptive names. Models like the CLA (a coupe from the A-Class range) and GLA (an SUV/Crossover from the A-Class range) and that looks set to be extended when the next Mercedes ML and ML Coupe arrive in 2015.