1999 Mercedes Benz Sl500 Amg Triple Black With Upgrades - Excellent Condition on 2040-cars

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Audi and Mercedes both outsell BMW in January

There won't be any celebrations in Munich this month, as BMW was outsold by arch-nemeses Audi and Mercedes-Benz. The Bavarian company finished behind Audi in January, which took the top spot for the first time since June of last year, Bloomberg reports. Ingolstadt rode high on a 10-percent bump in sales, while Mercedes saw a larger 14 percent increase. BMW, meanwhile, only saw a modest 6.3-percent sales increase last month, thanks in large part to its struggles in China. The company's sales there increased at about half the rate of its chief competitors, with a 7.9-percent jump to Mercedes and Audi's roughly 15-percent increases. Perhaps more worrying for BMW, though, is that this could become something of a trend for the company. According to Bloomberg, issues with Chinese dealers who cancelled orders over sales targets and bonuses combined with what the publication calls aging models, could spell bad news for the German marque. "This looks like a pretty significant decline in growth compared to Mercedes and Audi," Bankhaus Metzler analyst Juergen Pieper told Bloomberg. "I think this will continue during the next few months." News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Matthias Schrader / AP Earnings/Financials Audi BMW Mercedes-Benz

2020 Aston Martin DB11 tops this month's list of discounts

When we drove the Aston Martin DB11 for the first time, we said that it "stands out" and that "it delivers on the promise of Aston's potential for a successful second century." But we also said, "There must be a reason to buy the Aston beyond the fact that it turns heads at the country club." In case its stunning good looks and 600-horsepower 5.2-liter twin-turbo V8 weren't enough to grab your attention, how about a discount of nearly $20,000? Right now, buyers of the 2020 Aston Martin DB11 are paying, on average, $182,435. According to data provided to Autoblog from Truecar, that's a discount of $19,385 from the British coupe's average suggested retail price of $201,820. That's the largest discount on a new car in America this month, based on the dollar amount off the car's sticker price. The next biggest discount is for the 2019 Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Buyers of the German brand's range-topper are scoring an average discount of $13,816. While that's a much smaller number than the DB11, it represents 13.5% off the S-Class's average retail price of $101,151 versus the 9.6% discount of the Aston Martin. In fact, the Benz's percentage discount means it's the eighth-best deal in America overall. If you favor a different flavor of German luxury, the 2019 Audi A8 isn't far behind with an average discount of $12,701 representing 12.5% of its $101,762 average sticker. For a look at the best new car deals in America based on the percentage discount off their suggested asking prices, check out our monthly recap here. And when you're ready to buy, click here for the Autoblog Smart Buy program, which brings you a hassle-free buying experience with over 9,000 Certified Dealers nationwide. Related Video: 2017 Aston Martin DB11 First Drive

Brabus 800 Roadster is a power-mad aristocrat

If we're being completely honest, we haven't exactly been in love with the aesthetics of the sixth-generation Mercedes-Benz SL-Class. It's mostly a front-end issue, with its glowering eagle-eye headlamps and upright, dinner-plate-sized Three-Pointed Star coming across to us as overwrought. That's particularly troublesome for a roadster whose history has of the most elegant designs of all time in its back catalog. Somehow, the new R231 generation's brash visuals seem more at home on this Brabus 800 Roadster to us.
That's probably because the high-dollar German tuner has turned up the wick on the SL's visuals even further, with carbon fiber bodywork, a more aggressive aero kit, matte hood scoop and complex two-finish wheels. It's all-the-way committed to its brashness, in other words - and justifiably so. Anything with 800 horsepower and 1,047 pound-feet of torque has earned the right to look however it wants, right?
Brabus started with the SL65 and its not-exactly-underpowered 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12, and went to town, fitting their own turbocharger and intercooler system, along with a less-restrictive exhaust system with driver-selectable sound levels and new engine electronics. The result is a 3.7-second 0-62 mph time, an electronically limited top whack of 217 mph... and one seriously compromised toupée.