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2017 Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class First Drive

I recently waxed poetic about the interior of the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. In short, it's a class above the rest, simply because of the craftsmanship lessons Mercedes learned from its flagship S-Class. The new GLS-Class SUV doesn't have an interior like this. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal – adding "S" to the "GL" name is a marketing move to better tie Merc's largest SUV to its S-Class sedan. But it's more than just a letter; "S" adds a whole lot of responsibility in the world of Mercedes-Benz. Let me be clear: The GLS is a damn good product. It's supremely luxurious and immensely capable. An while it's not quite a luxury behemoth worthy of an S-Class name – that's probably in the works, by the way – it's still the best thing you can get this side of a Bentley Bentayga. And that's just fine with me. What you're looking at here is essentially a midcycle refresh of the existing GL, with some heavy massaging done to the exterior styling, interior design, and some mechanicals. Outside, the front fascia has a more upright appearance, with a wider grille that pushes the redesigned headlights farther out to the sides. Around back, there's a new bumper and LED taillamps. Otherwise, it's business as usual, though I do like the Sport exterior pictured here, only available on the GLS550. It comes with larger front air intakes and a tweaked rear apron, not to mention 21-inch AMG wheels. Certain elements like the mirrors and lower lip are blacked out with the addition of the Night pack, also seen here. "S" adds a whole lot of responsibility in the world of Mercedes-Benz. Because this isn't a clean-slate refresh, many of the SUV's interior bits carry over unchanged. No, it doesn't have the ultra-premium feel of an S-Class, but every surface is still wrapped in fine leather, the hard plastics genuinely feel premium, and on the go, road and wind noise are pretty much unnoticeable. Older bits like the HVAC controls at the bottom of the center stack and the old-style phone keypad above give away the GLS' age, but there's still plenty to boast about inside. The eight-inch infotainment screen houses all the latest COMAND features, controlled by the touchpad on the center console or redundant rotary knob. Compared to what you find in the Cadillac Escalade or Land Rover Range Rover, COMAND easily wins in terms of ease of use and the overall level of functionality.

Mercedes rules out hybrid supercar, promises SLS successor

The recent Geneva Motor Show was a festival of hypercars, with the presence of not one, but three over-the-top debuts: the Lamborghini Veneno, McLaren P1 and Ferrari LeFerrari. The latter two have hitched their carbon fiber bumpers to the electrification bandwagon by using hybrid-electric powertrains not entirely unlike the propulsion systems we've come to know in cars like the Toyota Prius and Chevrolet Volt. Does that mean the flow of electrons up the four-wheeled food chain will eventually consume our hallowed supercars? Not if AMG has anything to say about it.
AMG Director of Vehicle Development Tobias Moers recently confirmed that not only will there be a successor to the Mercedes-Benz performance division's SLS AMG, he notes that its internal combustion engine will most definitely not be sharing living quarters with an electric drivetrain. Instead, AMG plans to focus on further pushing the power and efficiency envelope of the internal combustion engine and advancing the use of lightweight materials to achieve their goals. The first example of this effort can be seen in the new SLS AMG Black Series that incorporates many weight-saving techniques to shed some 154 pounds from the SLS AMG GT (above), which itself is lighter than the standard SLS AMG.
Furthermore, Moers remarks that his company is happy to leave the hypercar segment to companies like Ferrari and McLaren. He admits that, "Ferrari in the hyper-car segment is still a different brand than AMG. We have to be honest..." So rather than taking the SLS further upmarket to do battle with bulls and stallions, Moers hinted that the next-generation SLS may be joined by another performance model that fits neatly between itself and the C63 AMG.

China's BAIC looks to invest in Daimler

Daimler and Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC) are already intertwined in China. Daimler is a 12-percent shareholder in BAIC Motor, the third largest shareholder in the passenger-car division of BAIC. They have a joint manufacturing venture Beijing Benz in which BAIC is the majority partner by one percent, a sales joint venture Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co. in which Daimler is the majority partner by one percent, and Daimer says, "BAIC is our most important partner in China." Beijing Benz is ten years old this year. They'll become even closer if talks between the two concerning BAIC taking "a major stake" in the German conglomerate come to anything. Reuters reports that the two are in talks now, with BAIC Chairman Xu Heyi saying it should be resolved one way or another by the end of this year. If they agree, the China-based, Hong Kong-listed company will join Renault-Nissan and the Kuwait Investment Authority as Daimler's top shareholders. Some China analysts see a potential Daimler investment as a coup for BAIC, similar to BAIC's 2009 purchase of old Saab platform, engine, and transmission technologies, that would give it access to technologies it wouldn't have to develop on its own and hastening the development of its own cars. A deal is also seen as potentially opening up export possibilities for the Chinese company. Other analysts aren't sure that BAIC would get any useful technology, noting that that last deal between the two gave BAIC the outdated E-Class platform, but none of Mercedes' headline tech. If a deal is done, BAIC will join Dongfeng Group and SAIC as Chinese automaker investors in western automotive companies.