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Mercedes-Benz GLA Concept gets mobbed in China

If the reception it received at the Shanghai Motor Show is any judge of marketplace acceptance, Mercedes-Benz has a hit on its hands in the form of the GLA Concept. And we can understand why - we're quickly becoming fans of Mercedes' recent styling language, as defined by new models like the CLA and this GLA Concept.
The big news on the exterior front are the headlamp clusters, which have frickin' laser beams attached to their foreheads embedded inside that are capable of projecting videos and images on a screen. Plus, a pair of video cameras are mounted on the roof that can be used to capture driving excitement or removed and taken with you. How cool is that? We just hope they have a substantial locking mechanism to prevent would-be thievery...
If the exterior is mostly ready for production, with a few of the more outlandish elements moved to the trash bin - like, for instance, laser-beam headlamps and removable action cams - the interior is a true custom job that screams concept loud and clear. There are all kinds of jewel-like finishes inside, along with transparent surfaces showing what looks like metal latticework underneath and some awfully thick looking leather with massive exterior stitching done by hand similar to what you'd find on a baseball glove.

Daimler buying 12% stake in Beijing Auto

Daimler and Beijing Automotive are officially going steady, with the German company set to take a 12-percent stake in the Chinese brand tomorrow. The two are already tied up in a Mercedes engine plant in Beijing, of which BAIC will increase its stake in, from 50 to 51 percent. Daimler will also get two seats on the Chinese company's board. BAIC may also gain the ability to produce cars on Mercedes-Benz platforms, according to Automotive News Europe.
The investment in BAIC comes ahead of that company's initial public offering, according to a report form Bloomberg, which indicates the deal will be inked tomorrow in the Chinese capital. According to the report, if the circumstances are right, BAIC may turn around and invest in the Germany company "soon."
It's not entirely clear just how much the 12-percent cut is costing Daimler, although it seems reasonable to assume that, as it's ahead of the IPO, the parent company of Mercedes is getting a bit of a bargain.

VW joins Daimler's protest of new A/C refrigerant as EU deadline for compliance passes

The case of Dupont and Honeywell's refrigerant R-1234yf is doing the exact opposite of keeping things cool. The two chemical companies have spent years and hundreds of millions of dollars developing R-1234yf to replace R-134a, the new refrigerant shown to be 99.7-percent kinder to the environment than the one it is meant to succeed. Part of that development has been years of testing by governments, outside safety agencies and automakers to approve the chemical for use in cars. It passed the protocols necessary for the European Union to declare that new and significantly revised cars from 2013 onward needed to use R-1234yf, and mandated that every car as of 2017 must use it.
Enter Daimler AG. The automaker created a head-on collision test with a B-Class at their Sindelfingen test track that would lead to the pressurized refrigerant being sprayed on the engine. The result in 20 out of 20 test was that the refrigerant burst into flames as soon as it hit the hot engine, while Daimler says that R-134a does not catch fire in the same test. Another unexpected result of the R-1234yf test was the release of hydrogen flouride, a chemical far more deadly to humans than hydrogen cyanide, emitted in such amounts that it that turned the windshield white as it began to eat into the glass.
Said a Daimler engineer in a Reuters piece, "It was scarcely believable. The most complicated lab tests conducted using the most sensitive measuring instruments around found nothing and all we do is drive a car around a couple of times, open a tiny hole in the refrigerant line and the next thing you know the car is on fire." So Daimler said it wouldn't use the refrigerant, and it recalled the cars it had already shipped with R-1234yf.