2002 Mercedes-benz Clk430 Base Coupe 2-door 4.3l, Custom Chrome Wheels, Sunroof on 2040-cars

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Volvo, Kia and BYD duke it out in the finals for World Car of 2024

Three electric vehicles — none produced by an American manufacturer — will compete next month for the title of 2024 World Car of the Year, it was announced Monday. The finalists are the Kia EV9, the Volvo EX30 and the BYD Seal (shown above). The latter two are built in China. The three top finalists in five other categories were also named at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland. The winners in all six categories will be revealed live during an awards ceremony at the New York International Auto Show on March 27. This year marks the 20th year of the World Car Awards and the partnership with the New York show. Besides car of the year, the other finalists are: Electric vehicle: BMW i5, Kia EV9, Volvo EX30; Luxury car: BMW 5 Series/i5, Mercedes Benz E-Class, Mercedes Benz EQE SUV; Performance car: BMW M2, BMW XM, Hyundai Ionia 5 N; Urban car: BYD Dolphin, Lexus LBX, Volvo EX30; World Car Design: Ford Bronco, Ferrari Purosangue, Toyota Prius. Only Ford among U.S. companies has an entry in the final selections, and only in one category, design, for the Bronco. BMW has four vehicles in the finals, Volvo has three, Kia and Mercedes have two each. BYD from China has two entries as well. The Seal went on sale in in its home market in 2022 and is now available in most of the rest of the world. The BYD Co. (which stands for Build Your Dreams) has surpassed Tesla to become the worldÂ’s biggest maker of electric vehicles, and has its sights set on the U.S. The selection process for World Cars involves 100-plus automotive journalists from 29 countries who vote, as they review and test-drive the eligible vehicles for the 2024 awards. Their journey is captured virtually on World Car TV. Design/Style Geneva Motor Show BMW Ferrari Ford Hyundai Kia Lexus Mercedes-Benz Toyota Volvo Best Cars World Car of the Year

Dysfunctional dashboards: Auto suppliers competing to clean up the cockpit

SAN FRANCISCO - Peer at the instrument panel on your new car and you see sleek digital gauges and multicolored screens. But behind the dashboard, here's what US auto supplier Visteon Corp found: a mess. As automotive cockpits become crammed with ever more digital features such as navigation and entertainment systems, the electronics holding it all together have become a rat's nest of components made by different parts makers. Now the race is on to clean up the clutter. Visteon is among a slew of suppliers aiming to make dashboard innards simpler, cheaper and lighter as the industry accelerates toward a so-called virtual cockpit - an all-digital dashboard that will help usher in the era of self-driving cars. What's at stake is a piece of the $37 billion cockpit electronics market, estimated by research firm IHS Market to nearly double to $62 billion by 2022. Accounting firm PwC estimates that electronics could account for up to 20 percent of a car's value in the next two years, up from 13 percent in 2015. Meanwhile, the number of suppliers for those components is likely to dwindle as automakers look to work with fewer companies capable of doing more, according to Mark Boyadjis, principal automotive analyst at IHS Markit. "The complexity of engineering 10 different systems from 10 different suppliers is no longer something an automaker wants to do," Boyadjis said. He estimates manufacturers eventually will work with two to three cockpit suppliers for each model, down from six to 10 today. DIGITAL MAKEOVER One of Visteon's solutions is a computer module dubbed "SmartCore." This cockpit domain controller operates a vehicle's instrument cluster, infotainment system and other features, all on the same tiny piece of silicon. So far this year, the Detroit-based company has landed two big contracts for undisclosed sums. One, announced in April, is with China's second-largest automaker, Dongfeng Motor Corp. The other is with Mercedes-Benz, Reuters has learned. Mercedes did not respond to requests for comment. Another unnamed European automaker plans to use the system in 2018, according to Visteon. Visteon is going all-in on cockpit electronics, having shed its remaining automotive climate and interiors businesses in 2016. The bet so far is paying off. The company secured $1.5 billion in new business in the first quarter, helped by growth in China. Visteon's stock price is up more than 50 percent over the past year.

Mercedes-AMG planning hybrid hypercar?

It used to be that, a few overlapping two-door models aside, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche didn't really compete with one another. That's how the two ended up collaborating on projects like the Mercedes 500 E that put it on the performance sedan map without fear of stepping on each other's toes. But Porsche has grown considerably since then, challenging its Stuttgart neighbor with four-door sedans and crossovers, as well as sports coupes and convertibles. Little wonder, then, that Mercedes has hit back at Porsche with the AMG GT, and there will be many more versions to follow in 911 style. But that may not be the final salvo the Silver Star marque launches at Zuffenhausen. According to the latest bit of speculation and deduction from our friends at Motor Trend, Mercedes-AMG may be planning a hybrid hypercar of its own to take on the Porsche 918 Spyder – not to mention the McLaren P1 and LaFerrari. Solid information is sparse at this point, but after speaking to AMG chief Tobias Moers, MT speculates that the new flagship will likely be mid-engined, with a boosted version of the company's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 kicking out between 650 and 700 horsepower, working with a pair of electric motors at the front to deliver tenacious through-the-road all-wheel traction and a combined output in the thousand-horsepower range. There is the possibility, though, that Mercedes could go after the latest hybrid hypercars with a flagship version of its just-launched AMG GT, packing a similar powertrain setup as the ultimate evolution of the breed. Other GT versions will likely soon include a GT3 racing model, a Black Series version and a roadster – following a similar path taken not only by the 911, but also by Benz's previous halo supercars like the SLR McLaren and SLS AMG.