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Mercedes teases a new Maybach concept convertible

Once again, Mercedes is taking a Vision concept to the Pebble Beach Concours this year. To start generating excitement, the company has released a teaser trailer for the car, and effectively no other information. But we think we've pieced together what the car is. Let's look at the video first. It shows a voluptuous blue body. It's all curves and clean lines inside and out. It also has an impressively prodigious prow with a proud three-pointed star at the front. The interior is all white with very little detail, and in addition to chrome, there are many copper trim pieces. There appear to be only two seats, too. Toward the end, we see a strip of copper trim on the outside as well, and just before the shot changes, we can see a bit of white interior that indicates this is a convertible. So we know this is an elegant, luxurious roadster. Is there anything else we can discern? Well, it seems Mercedes may have accidentally revealed the name of the car, or at least what it's based on. The video's file name includes the words "Maybach six." That happens to be the name of last year's Mercedes-Maybach coupe concept. On top of that, there's a striking resemblance between the long, flowing hoods of both cars. So it seems like a pretty safe bet that Mercedes will show the convertible version of that car, which was 18 feet long, and produced 738 horsepower from a quartet of electric motors. We'll find out if we're right when the car is revealed at Pebble Beach. Related Video: Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz Design/Style Maybach Mercedes-Benz Technology Emerging Technologies Convertible Concept Cars Electric Luxury Pebble Beach

The 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class interior is the new standard [w/video]

You can choose from 64 ambient light colors in the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Sixty-four. It's this sort of personalization that highlights Mercedes' approach with its new midsize sedan, a car I'm comfortable saying will once again secure its place as the most luxurious car money can buy in that class. It's the true Mercedes of the segment. All you have to do is look inside. If the cabin of this new E-Class looks familiar, it's because it builds on a successful Mercedes-Benz formula. There's a wealth of luxurious materials at your fingertips; leathers and trims from the S-Class trickle down to Mercedes' midsize E, and work in perfect harmony with beautifully sculpted surfaces. If I told you the pictures above show a new S-Class Coupe, you'd (probably) believe me. That's exactly how I felt during an intimate preview of the new E-Class' interior at one of Mercedes' research and development buildings in Sindelfingen, Germany. After hearing Merc's suits talk about the mission of the new E-Class, my iPhone was confiscated, and I was ushered behind a dark curtain where I met a lightly camouflaged car. Sitting inside, my first impression was the same as when I first met the current S-Class a couple of years ago: wow. Much like how the new C-Class is often referred to as a "baby S-Class," the same can be said of the new E, with even more validity. Here's why. Everything On The Big Screen The first thing you notice is the flat, dual-screen display that makes up the instrument panel and central infotainment headunit. This large piece of tech is a "Mercedes interior signature," according to lead designer Hartmut Sinkwitz. All versions of the E-Class have this setup, but in two different levels of execution. Base models get traditional fixed speedometer and tachometer gauges, with a seven-inch color display between them and an 8.4-inch color display off to the right for the COMAND system. Uplevel cars, like the ones you see here, get two 12.3-inch screens, with a huge range of customization options, and a revised main menu interface for COMAND. With that premium system, three different skins can be selected for the gauge cluster. The standard configuration – Classic – is exactly what you expect from a new Mercedes, with a clean, two-gauge design and different driver-selectable information screens in the middle. But new for the E-Class are two other views, branded as Sport and Progressive. Sport still uses the two-gauge setup, but uses different fonts and colors.

BMW can't build enough M3 wagons, but the U.S. won't see any

Why, oh why, won’t the automobile companies that supposedly cater to Americans give us a viable touring wagon? Seems that BMW is one manufacturer thatÂ’s aware of the question, but skirts the answer. WhatÂ’s more frustrating is that the German company, and others, have for years been off-handedly tossing out the same refrain: “Maybe weÂ’ll bring a wagon back to the U.S.” Not. All the more irritating then is the news that the Bavarians have increased production in Munich of its M3 Touring longroof version to keep up with demand. The information comes via Bimmer Today, which spoke with BMW M CEO Frank van Meel. He said that the company was surprised by the amount of interest in the M3 Touring since its debut during last year's Goodwood Festival of Speed. In fact, he said, the company had to facilitate a production ramp-up within its Munich facility. Despite that increased production, the backlog of orders means that customers are still on wait lists, he said. Last year, van Peel admitted that demand for M-wagons in the U.S. has been steadily increasing, and exporting a touring example was a concept BMW was "taking into consideration.” Crossovers certainly are this decadeÂ’s version of the wagon, which leaves American enthusiasts will few choices: only expensive versions from Audi, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz and a couple of others. Details that were announced last year — a few months before the wagon went into production for sale in Europe, the U.K. and elsewhere — noted that the M3 Touring was only available in Competition spec with xDrive all-wheel drive and a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six with 503 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque. Pricing started at GBP80,550 ($105,000 U.S.) More data on the M3Â’s intro here. Related video: