Mercedes-Benz Releases UK Pricing on New SLK 55 AMG

The most powerful production SLK of all time, the new 2012 SLK 55 AMG, has arrived in Britain and is available for to order with an on-the-road price of £54,950 (equal to US$84,630 / €66,200).

Lying under the hood of the AMG-branded SLK is a naturally aspirated, direct-injection V8 engine with a displacement of 5.5-liters that produces 421-horses at 6,800rpm and 540Nm (398.2 lb-ft) of peak torque at 4,500rpm.

A seven-speed AMG SPEEDSHIFT 7G-TRONIC PLUS automatic transmission drives the rear wheels with Mercedes laying claims to a 0-62mph (100km/h) sprint time of 4.6 seconds and a restricted top speed of 155mph (250km/h).

The roadster model's combined fuel economy is 33.6mpg UK, with CO2 emissions of 195g/km.

Among other standard features, the SLK 55 AMG comes equipped with Nappa leather upholstery, 18-inch five-spoke alloy wheels, an Intelligent Light System, COMAND Online with Media Interface and a DAB digital radio.

On the options list there's a special AMG Performance Package with revised suspension and brakes with a rear differential lock (£4,105) and the AMG Driver’s Package that removes the speed limited and includes attendance at an AMG ‘Power and Passion’ driver event (£2,755).

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FAB Design Cloaks the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Convertible in a Wide Body Kit

Over the years, we've seen some pretty crude creations from Swiss tuning house FAB Design including an atrocious-looking Cadillac Escalade for a North African client.

But once in a while, FAB Design comes up with a tune that we could live with such as its new offering for the latest Mercedes-Benz E-Class Convertible series.

The Swiss firm has developed a wide body kit for the open top model that includes a new front bumper featuring different openings along with wider front and rear fenders, matching rocker panels with air vents, a boot lid spoiler and a restyled rear bumper housing a diffuser and the new exhaust pipes.

The four-seater Merc is also fitted with new 20-inch alloys wrapped around beefy tires while hardware changes are limited to a lowered sports suspension and a new exhaust system with an integrated valve control that allows the driver to choose between a sonorous and a discrete sound.

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Audi Boss Confirms Q3 Vail Concept for Detroit Show

The first and second place in the U.S. premium segment may belong to the Germans for 2011, but while BMW and Mercedes-Benz are at the top, Audi couldn’t manage anything better than seventh place, with less than half deliveries of its rivals.

Clearly, this is far from ideal for the Ingolstadt-based carmaker since the U.S. remains the number one market for premium brands. Furthermore, Audi, which is the segment leader both in Western Europe and China, wants to overtake BMW as the number one premium brand worldwide by 2015.

That’s why Audi plans to introduce more models in the U.S. market. It will start from next week’s Detroit Motor Show where it will reveal a new concept version of its Q3 crossover named “Vail”, and will follow up with a sedan version of the third-generation A3.

“The next pillar of the market that we have to conquer is the United States”, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler told Bloomberg News. “We see opportunities in the SUV and sedan segments”, he added.

Stadler also re-confirmed plans to resurrect the A2 premium compact, the first generation of which was discontinued after failing to meet its targets.

Moreover, despite beginning U.S. production in 2015, long after its rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Stadler said that Audi would follow their example and look into assembling SUVs and sedans at its U.S. plant.

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New Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG Murdered Out by Wald International

Japanese tuning firm Wald International likes to give its customers' rides a sinister look and its take on the new 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG is no exception.

Even though in stock form the AMG version of Mercedes-Benz's sports saloon comes with its own aero-aids, Wald International has prepared a new and more aggressive styling package named Black Bison.

The carbon-fiber aero kit consists of a restyled front bumper with more angular air vents that house LED strips, a blacked-out front grille, new rocker panels, Wald's own side air outlets, a different rear bumper with additional vents and a prominent rear diffuser plus a discrete roof spoiler and a rear spoiler that wraps around the trunk.

Wald's Black Bison Edition of the CLS 63 AMG also gets a larger set of alloy wheels in a black finish wrapped in high-performance rubber, a D.T.M. sports muffler with quad tail pipes and a lowering module for the suspension.

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Senner Tuning Extracts Some More Power from Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

Not all German tuning firms are obsessed with insane power numbers and questionable cosmetic makeovers, as Senner Tuning's new package for the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Gullwing sports car shows.

The Ingelheim am Rhein-based tuner starts with the SLS AMG's 6.2-liter V8 engine, which normally produces an output of 571-horsepower and a peak torque of 650Nm (479 lb-ft). A revised ECU along with a stainless steel sports exhaust system and a high-performance air filter boots these numbers 606HP and 690Nm (509 lb-ft).

Senner Tuning also upgrades the suspension and adds a new set of 20-inch Corniche Vegas alloy wheels shod in tires size 255/30R20 at the front and 285/30R20 at the rear.

The carbon fiber mirror caps round off the package, which carries a sticker price of €19,500 including VAT (about US$25,490) in Germany.

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Infiniti’s Mercedes A-Class-based Compact Model to be Built by Magna Steyr

Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Japan’s second biggest automaker, wants Nissan's luxury brand, Infiniti, to have a 10 percent share in the premium segment, which amounts to 500,000 units.

The “Power 88” plan that Ghosn revealed last June calls for the rapid expansion of Infiniti, which is an established player in the U.S. market but almost non-existent in Europe: in 2010 it sold 4,500 units, a tenth of BMW’s January 45,000 sales…

Back in August, we revealed that Infiniti was preparing a small, entry-level premium model to compete with the likes of Audi’s A3 and BMW’s 1-Series, and that it would use another premium carmaker’s help: Mercedes Benz and its newly developed MFA platform employed by the 2012 A-Class.

Now, Autonews reports that the Infiniti's C-segment model, which was previewed by the Etherea concept at the Geneva Motor Show this past March, will be manufactured in Austria by Magna Steyr.

The Austrian company has a huge experience in manufacturing vehicles for other carmakers. It's most well-known models are the first-generation BMW X3, the European Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Peugeot RCZ and the Mini Countryman, and of course, Mercedes’ no-frills 4x4, the G-Wagen, which it has built since 1979.

Sources report that the deal, which is expected to be signed next month, stipulates that Magna Steyr will receive many preassembled “complete parts” from Mercedes-Benz .The new model’s annual production will be around 50,000-60,000 units, significantly boosting Infiniti’s global sales.

The entry-level Infiniti will be launched in 2013 and will be based on Mercedes’ MFA new front-wheel drive platform. Tying up with Daimler on April 2010 was Nissan’s first move towards its target, cutting development and production costs for both groups.

Using a sub-contractor and a rather experienced one at that to build a mainstream model means that you can save even more, since you don’t have to retool your existing plants or set up a new one, either of which are much more expensive solutions.

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