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Daimler, Geely mull China as production hub for hybrid powertrains

FRANKFURT — Daimler and Geely on Friday said China could emerge as a manufacturing and export hub for hybrid powertrains jointly developed for Volvo and Mercedes-Benz cars. Earlier this week, Daimler said it would cooperate with China's Geely to build next-generation combustion engines for use in hybrid vehicles. The engines will be produced in China as well as in Europe, and Geely and Daimler will cooperate in engineering, sourcing and production, the companies said in a joint press release. "The export of the engine from China is considered to be an option," the release further said. Mercedes-Benz aims for more than half of its passenger car sales to be comprised of plug-in hybrids or purely electric vehicles by 2030. Geely is ChinaÂ’s most internationally known automaker. It owns Volvo Cars and Lotus, almost half of Proton and 9.7% of Daimler. Through wholly owned company Polestar, it builds low-volume Polestar 1 hybrid performance cars in the western city of Chengdu and Polestar 2 volume sedans in Taizhou in the east. "The companies plan to develop a highly efficient modular engine," a spokesman for Daimler said, adding that it would be used in hybrid drivetrains and manufactured in Europe and China. The modular engine will be used in cars under different marques at Geely and Daimler, a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity as the companies are still in the early stages of developing the engine. An Conghui, President of Geely Holding Group, President and CEO of Geely Auto Group said: “This project reflects the need for economies of scale and targeted research and development investment in clean and highly efficient powertrains and hybrid drive systems and their applications." Geely also plans to build a plant with annual manufacturing capacity of 30,000 premium EVs in the western city of Chongqing, run by a wholly owned, newly registered company, according to documents on its website. Geely and Polestar declined to comment. The plan comes as foreign automakers including BMW AG and Tesla expand EV production in the worldÂ’s biggest market, sourcing major EV components such as batteries locally and often even exporting a portion of the vehicles it builds.   Auto News Earnings/Financials Green Plants/Manufacturing Mercedes-Benz Volvo Green Automakers Future Vehicles Hybrid

Project Maybach is an absurd, awesome off-road electric coupe

Mercedes has created some mighty unusual concepts for the Maybach luxury brand. The Exelero high-speed test car and the Ultimate Luxury SUV sedan come to mind. But the Project Maybach, designed in collaboration with late fashion designer Virgil Abloh, may be the wildest yet, being an electric off-road coupe. It's not just the fact it's a two-door off-road coupe. It's the fact that it's a nearly 20-foot-long two-door off-road coupe. And it has very traditional proportions and lines, with a gargantuan front end, and a somewhat less gargantuan rear end. It's squared-off, but in a more elegant, midcentury luxury car way than say, a Hummer. And of course, it has a huge chrome grille and highly embellished taillights, complete with Maybach logos. And yet, this old-school coupe sits high off the ground. It rolls on small, steel-style wheels with chunky tires. It even has skid plates, bolt-on fender flares, rock rails and a roll cage with a roof basket. It's all painted in a matte tan paint that makes it look like a desert-ready expedition vehicle. It's even arguably practical for expedition work. The somewhat spartan-looking interior has tan leather seats that recline fully flat for sleeping. Being an electric car with long areas unoccupied by people, plus that roof basket, it likely has loads of cargo space. On the hood are solar panels that might provide a bit of range, but would at least be handy for recouping some power for accessories. The interior seems to have additional storage bins and tools stowed in special compartments around the cabin. As for the actual performance and range, well, Mercedes has nothing specific. That's not entirely surprising, since this seems to be solely a design exercise. As such, don't expect to see a production model anytime soon. Then again, off-road luxury vehicles are certainly popular. Maybe Mercedes would consider it if there were enough seriously wealthy customers expressing interest. Related video:

VW, Fiat, Mercedes could be CNG winners in Europe

Fiat ads in the US try to play up the exotic, sexy side of Italian culture. On the home front in Italy, however, passenger-vehicle sales are marked by something less edgy and quite a bit more practical: the growth of compressed-natural-gas (CNG) powered car sales. In fact, Italy is leading a group of European countries where CNG sales are on the upswing and may be benefiting automakers like VW, Fiat and Mercedes-Benz, according to Automotive News. VW started sales of its Golf TGI natural-gas vehicle this year – the company's fourth in Europe – while Mercedes-Benz added a natural-gas B-class model. Fiat accounts for about 50 percent of CNG vehicles sold on the continent. In all, Europe's CNG sales through September totaled about 67,000, up seven percent from a year earlier, Automotive News Europe says, citing research firm JATO Dynamics. And the number of CNG vehicles on Europe's roads could jump tenfold within the next decade. The draw is a combination of lower refueling prices and a CNG drivetrain that typically emits less CO2 than diesel vehicles. As for Italy, about five percent of new-vehicle sales are CNG. To put that into perspective, hybrids, battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and diesels combined to account for about 4.2 percent of US vehicle sales last year. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Volkswagen Green Fiat Mercedes-Benz Volkswagen Natural Gas Vehicles CNG