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VW looking to MAN up, ditch Mercedes van deal

Unlike the US, the commercial truck market throughout the rest of the world is chocked full of competitors from many different automakers. Since 2006, Volkswagen has had a fullsize van called the Crafter that was a result of a partnership with Daimler AG and based on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. This partnership is supposed to last through 2016, but Reuters is reporting that VW might be looking to end its relationship with Daimler and create its own van in cooperation with German truck and bus maker MAN.
The article says that VW AG has more than a 75-percent stake in MAN, which would essentially be keeping the new commercial vehicle in-house. Even if VW bolts, Daimler still has a deal worked out in the commercial truck industry between its subsidiary Mitsubishi Fuso and Renault-Nissan to supply the other with different trucks.

Mercedes dropping Shooting Brake from next CLS-Class

If you've been admiring the Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake from afar and held out hope that the next version might make it to over to our side of the pond, we've got bad news for you. Not only will the next rendition of Benz's sleek wagon not make it to North American showrooms, it won't be offered anywhere. According to Car, the German automaker has pulled the plug on the next CLS Shooting Brake. The five-door bodystyle was slated to form part of the third-generation CLS-Class lineup, whose design has already been finalized. But though there was reportedly great enthusiasm for the shooting brake within the company, lukewarm response from the vital North American and Chinese markets meant that plans for another wagon variant were scrapped altogether. Mercedes first rolled out the CLS four-door coupe in 2004, pioneering the popular new segment before BMW followed with its Gran Coupe models and Audi its Sportbacks. The second-generation model arrived in 2010, with a Shooting Brake following in 2012. Stuttgart even followed up with a smaller CLA Shooting Brake as well. With the third-generation model now on its way, however, the CLS is going back exclusively to four doors and a trunk. Of course that doesn't mean Mercedes won't be offering any oddball long-roofed models. It simply appears to be filling those niches with slant-backed versions of crossovers like the new GLC and GLE instead. So if you're looking for a vehicle with a Silver Star on the nose and an unconventional roofline at the back, you're going to have to settle on riding higher. Related Video:

Mercedes-AMG chairman shoots down notion of LaFerrari-fighter

Mercedes-AMG chairman Tobias Moers took a sip of water and pondered the question. It was a loaded one: Would his company consider building a hyper car to rival extreme machines like the Porsche 918 and Ferrari LaFerrari? The short answer: not right now. "Unfortunately, if we find we should do something like that, there's no capacity – there's no engineering capacity to do that – in the near future. So there's no chance for us [to do that]," he told Autoblog in an interview at the Los Angeles Auto Show. AMG has capitalized on the rebounding global economy and strong demand for performance cars in the United States, China, and Europe, its most critical markets. It employs about 1,400 people, an astronomical leap from the 120 people who worked at AMG when Moers started in 1994. AMG also announced plans this week to increase V12 engine production due to high demand. Production will move from the AMG base in Affalterbach to another Daimler site in Mannheim, Germany. The switch will free up capacity for AMG to build more V8 engines in Affalterbach. Despite all of this growth, Moers said the company has priorities more pressing than a hypercar, like adding more extreme variants of its existing models. It also revealed the SL63 and SL65 AMG models this week in Los Angeles. "We're going to increase the family of the GT (shown above)," he said. "We're really busy with the next-generation E-Class, which will be the biggest step we've ever made from one generation E-Class to the next one regarding driving dynamics." Moers also says a supercar doesn't make financial sense for AMG, though halo cars are traditionally done for brand building, rather than the bottom line. "We're not coming to that point. I think a hypercar is always bad on a business case," he said. An AMG supercar is one of the industry's favorite rumors, and Moers admitted his customers are interested in the proposition. "In the recent past, I always thought like AMG ... is not in that level to be accepted in a hypercar, super, super, super sports car segment," he said. Talking with customers in all of our main markets, give[s] me a different view to that." Related Video: