No Reserve Very Clean on 2040-cars

Auto blog

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:

Here are all the new 2022 season F1 cars (UPDATED)

Update: Since this post's original publishing, the rest of this season's teams have revealed their 2022 cars. We've updated the post with all of them, so it now includes every 2022 F1 car on the grid. The updated story continues below. Reveals of the 2022 F1 cars are coming fast and heavy, and at this point, every team has shown off their redesigned cars. This being the case, we figured it was time to provide you all with a place to see all the cars at once. The gallery above holds photos of all the cars, and below you’ll see all them broken down by teams and drivers, along with quotes from the drivers and team leaders that come via F1Â’s official website where the cars were revealed. Mercedes W13 - Lewis Hamilton and George Russel "It just takes you back to being a kid," Hamilton said. "I think itÂ’s always exciting watching, I mean with this new era of car, weÂ’ve never seen such a drastic change, right? "So itÂ’s such a huge change in so many ways, that itÂ’s just been really interesting seeing the designers and everyone coming together to find the best ways of creating a masterpiece." “It feels incredible, obviously Lewis and I have driven so many laps in the simulator of this,” Russel said. “WeÂ’ve seen all the drawings, weÂ’ve had so many meetings and presentations about it, but suddenly seeing it all come together, seeing all of the men and women who have put so much hard work and grit into making this, and coming together here, I think it looks incredible. “And I think the silver [coming] back, weÂ’ve had an incredible livery with the black in the past couple of years – but the silver back on track I think is going to look incredible." Ferrari F1-75 - Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz “I think it looks aggressive, it looks radical, and I think it looks beautiful also Â… I just hope itÂ’s fast,” said Sainz. “ItÂ’s innovative, different, thinking a bit out of the box. I like it because itÂ’s just radical, which is what you want to see when you see a new car.” “Yes, I do [like the livery],” Leclerc said. “I think it fits perfectly. ItÂ’s a bit of a dark red, looks a bit more aggressive, but for a car like this, I think it fits perfectly.

Mercedes investing $500 million for new Sprinter plant in SC

The commercial van segment is exploding in popularity in the US right now with a vast array of recent products from multiple marques, and there's even more on the way from automakers like Hyundai. Mercedes-Benz is trying to grab a bigger share of the expanding market, too, and is launching its smaller Metris here in the fall. Now comes word that Mercedes will construct a $500-million factory in Charleston, SC, that will build the next-gen Sprinter domestically. According to Mercedes, construction of the new plant will begin in 2016, and when complete, the site will cover around 200 acres, including a body shop, paint shop and assembly line. It will also employ 1,300 people who will be building Sprinters badged as both Mercedes and Freightliner models. Rumors about this new construction go back to late last year. Mercedes currently has to ship some partially disassembled Sprinters into the US from Germany, paying import duties on them, and then the company puts the vans back together at a site in Ladson, SC. The process obviously adds costs to the models, and the domestic factory should mean a more price-competitive vehicle. Plus, a local factory means quicker deliveries to dealers. Despite the laborious import process, the Sprinter is a hit in the US. Mercedes sold 25,745 of them in 2014, which made the country the van's second-largest market behind Germany. They were first launched here in 2001 and since then have gained a nine-percent market share in the segment, according to the company. Mercedes is on a construction boom at the moment. The company is building a new corporate headquarters for the US in Atlanta, GA, due to be complete in 2018. The German brand is also investing $2.4 billion to expand its Tuscaloosa, AL, factory to build models like the forthcoming GLE-Class. MERCEDES-BENZ VANS TO INVEST AROUND $500 MILLION IN NEW VAN PLANT IN SOUTH CAROLINA, U.S. 09/03/15 from Mercedes-Benz New plant to be built in Charleston, South Carolina, beginning in 2016 Next generation Sprinter also to be manufactured in the U.S. Expansion of the global production network as part of the "Mercedes-Benz Vans goes global" growth strategy Creation of more than 1,300 new jobs planned Volker Mornhinweg: "We are investing around half a billion dollars to create a top-notch Mercedes-Benz van plant here in South Carolina.