Mercury Wmk-3 1399-1133 Carb on 2040-parts.com

Mercedes signs joint venture to build carbonfibre parts

Not to be outdone by BMW’s joint venture with the SGL Group to manufacturer commercially viable carbonfibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) for the electric Megacity Vehicle, Mercedes has announced a joint venture with Japanese company Toray Industries to manufacturer and market its on CFRP automotive parts. The deal was signed in Germany today, with Toray taking a 50.1% stake, Daimler holding 44.9% and the remaining 5% being taken by other shareholders. The two companies started working together in March 2010, and while Toray has been working on the materials and moulding processes, Merc has designed the automotive parts and the technologies to join the parts together.

Autoweek's Best of the Best winners announced

Today, Autoweek announced the winners of our yearly Best of the Best competition with the Porsche Boxster S and Mercedes-Benz GL taking top honors. Presenting the awards, editor Wes Raynal said, “It was a tough call to make this year with so many incredible cars and trucks that debuted. After a year of evaluating everything on the market, the Porsche Boxster S and Mercedes-Benz GL rose to the top, really earning these two awards.” For Best of the Best awards, the Autoweek editors considered publicly available, all-new or substantially new 2013 model cars and trucks.

2013 Mercedes-Benz SL previewed by leaked brochure

Here's the image that has the Web abuzz today--an apparent brochure scan of the 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL distributed by a European automotive site. Design cues reminiscent of the SLS AMG are unmistakable, and the new SL also takes on a fairly prominent iteration of the corporate front fascia. Underneath, Mercedes is promising a new aluminum architecture that will save weight while boosting rigidity.