Auto blog

Mercedes will still provide V8 engines to Aston Martin

News of Mercedes suspending sales of the vast majority of its V8-powered cars for the 2022 model year hit the presses about a week ago. However, what wasn’t explained then was the fate of Aston Martins with Mercedes-AMG V8 engines. Many Aston Martin products are powered by AMGÂ’s 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine (the M 177 version affecting AMG products), and itÂ’s one of the motors that we reportedly wonÂ’t see in Mercedes-AMG products next year. Since AMG is struggling to fit its cars with its own engine, that brings into question Aston MartinÂ’s supply of V8s. Car and Driver got some answers from Aston, though, and the situation in the UK doesnÂ’t appear anywhere near as dire as in Germany. “Aston Martin confirms that its supply of V8 engines from Aston Martin AG is not affected," an Aston Martin spokesperson told Car and Driver. So there you have it. AstonÂ’s AMG V8-powered vehicles — Vantage, DB11 and DBX — will supposedly carry on sales without interruption. ThatÂ’s great news for Aston Martin and any uber-wealthy folks who intend to buy one.  At the same time, Mercedes isn't completely out of the V8 game for 2022. In fact, it's still selling cars that directly compete with Aston Martin: AMG GT Coupe and Roadster. Those Mercedes products use the M 178 version of the AMG V8 and are reportedly unaffected by supply issues. ThereÂ’s probably even more to this story as time passes, too. Mercedes has yet to officially acknowledge the stoppage of V8s — we reached out for comment when we published our initial story, but havenÂ’t heard confirmation back yet. When we do, weÂ’ll make sure to update you on whatÂ’s going on. Related video:

Here's how Detroit is selling more luxury vehicles than Germany and Japan

Now there's an attention-grabbing headline, eh? Although the answer to the riddle - pickup trucks and SUVs - might be somehow deflating, the numbers involved deserve a going over. According to TrueCar's figures (click on the table to enlarge), six of the year's ten best-selling vehicles in the US that sell for a transaction price above $50,000 are body-on-frame, and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class is the only foreigner to crack the top five. Every enthusiast knows that pickup trucks are 'Murica's most popular vehicle by a colossal margin, and there have been plenty of reports about the popularity of luxuriously appointed trucks and SUVs, but compare these figures from TrueCar: 70 percent of Chevrolet Tahoe sales have a transaction price above $50K, and The Bowtie is expected to make $3.9 billion in revenue on 66,945 predicted high-dollar sales; 95.1 percent of E-Class sales break $50K, so the German company will make $4.0 billion on 67,006 predicted sales in that pricing sphere. It's about the only time you'll see the Tahoe ranked right next to Mercedes' bread-and-butter sedan. Ram is ahead of those two with $4.2B coming from $50K-plus sales. The Ford F-Series does almost as much revenue as the next three combined, with an expected $10.8 billion coming from sales of trucks over $50K - more than a quarter of the model's total sales, when a base F-150 can be had for about $26,000. Yes, the Germans make a lot more money on fewer sales, but considering the comparison, the bottom line isn't too troubled by such facts. Weighing like-for-like, the full-size Ford walks it in every category; elsewhere, the Chevrolet Silverado outsells the Ram, but the Ram outsells the Chevy by 6.7 percent above $50K. And for all the flak GMC takes over swapping out grilles, the Sierra also outsells the Chevy in the well-appointed segment, 16.1 percent of sales versus 11 percent – the Professional Grade brand is a huge profit center for The General. You'll find more info in the TrueCar press release below. TrueCar finds pickup trucks far outsell premium brands among top 10 vehicles over $50,000 Ford F-Series pickup sales over $50,000 surpass combined BMW 3, 5, 7 Series luxury car sales SANTA MONICA, Calif. (December 10, 2014) - TrueCar, Inc., the negotiation-free car buying and selling platform, finds mainstream pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles dominate U.S.

Mercedes GLS updates Silver Star seven-seater

It can be bewildering, the staggering array of crossovers and SUVs offered by Mercedes-Benz. There's the G, the GL, the GLK and the GLA, not to mention the new GLE and the ML that basically started it all. So you can forgive yourself if you've never heard of the GLS. After all, it doesn't currently exist. But it will soon. In accordance with Benz's new nomenclature, the GLS-Class will be the replacement for the GL – the largest of the Mercedes utility vehicles and the only one with three rows of seats. Since the current GL was only launched about two and a half years ago, the new nameplate won't be attached to an all-new model just yet. But as you can see from these spy shots, it appears that Mercedes is preparing a facelifted version of the existing model to fit into the new (or at least renamed) lineup. The biggest changes discernible from these spy shots is the revised front end, with new headlights, a more upright grille and a reshaped bumper and hood to go along with it. Around back the changes are more subtle, with reshaped tail lamps, bumper and exhaust pipes. Inside we're expecting a cleaner center console with a new 8-inch touchscreen reportedly inspired by the iPhone. We don't know when, exactly, to expect the revised GLS to arrive on the scene, but given the relatively modest nature of the revisions and how close they look to being ready, we wouldn't expect it to be long now. Whether those minor changes will be enough to keep up with the all-new Audi Q7 just announced, however, is another matter entirely.