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Which car should win 2015 World Green Car of the Year?

There were three finalists for the World Green Car of the Year announced about a month ago at the Geneva Motor Show: the BMW i8, the Mercedes-Benz S 500 Plug-In Hybrid and the Volkswagen Golf GTE. With the New York Auto Show upon us and the winner scheduled to be announced tomorrow, we thought it's high time to ask our readers which one should win. There were seven other vehicles named to the finalists list: the Hyundai x35/Tucson Fuel Cell, the Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine, the Audi A3 Sportback E-Tron, the BMW X5 xDrive40e, the Kia Soul EV, the Nissan e-NV200 and the Opel Adam 1.0 Direct Injection Turbo ecoFLEX Start. Would you have named one of these to the top three list instead? POLL 14386429 Green BMW Mercedes-Benz Volkswagen 2015 ny auto show world green car of the year vw golf gte

Smart brand will be built in China as a Daimler-Geely joint

FRANKFURT/BEIJING — Daimler will build its next generation of Smart electric cars in China through a joint venture with Geely, as a way to increase economies of scale in a market segment that is struggling to turn a profit. China's Geely built a stake of almost 10 percent in Daimler last year, saying it wanted to forge an alliance to develop electric and self-driving cars to better compete against new challengers such as Uber and Google. Daimler said on Thursday it would build the next generation of Smart-branded city cars at a purpose-built factory in China, and planned to share its expertise in manufacturing, engineering and design with Geely. The high cost of electric car batteries has made it hard for automakers to build affordable zero-emissions vehicles, leading several of them to strike alliances with Chinese partners. Daimler's German rival BMW recently unveiled plans to build electric Minis in China, where production costs are low and demand for small electric cars is rising. Daimler and Geely did not disclose financial terms of their deal. The details of the joint venture will be finalized by the end of 2019, they said in a joint press release. Daimler currently develops and builds Smart cars with Renault at factories in France and Slovenia. The Daimler factory in Hambach, France, will be retooled to build Mercedes-Benz cars. Geely has been expanding rapidly through mergers and acquisitions since 2010, when it acquired Swedish carmaker Volvo from Ford. Last year, Daimler and Geely set up a ride-hailing joint venture in China. Daimler's Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said last month the German carmaker was in talks to deepen its alliance with Geely after the Chinese's group's chairman Li Shufu bought a 9.69 percent stake in Daimler in 2018.

Daimler says straight up it doesn't cheat on emissions tests

Distancing itself from VW and its diesel emissions scandal, Daimler has put out a statement saying that it has never installed devices on their vehicles that would artificially reduce emissions during a testing process. The company added that it "actively" supports European regulators' efforts to improve emissions-testing methods to better measure emissions during "real" driving conditions. BMW put out a similar statement last week, saying that its diesels are programmed to be tested properly. While Mercedes-Benz diesels were a fixture on US roads in past decades, the company's diesel sales are now concentrated overseas. "We categorically deny the accusation of manipulating emission tests regarding our vehicles," Daimler said in Friday's statement. "A defeat device, a function which illegitimately reduces emissions during testing, has never been and will never be used at Daimler." There's a reason for that sort of straightforward statement. Namely, heads continue to roll at VW after the automaker admitted it manipulated software in its diesel vehicles to pass US emissions testing. VW followed up by saying that as may as 11 million vehicles worldwide may contain that software and has set aside $7.3 billion to address the issue. VW CEO Martin Winterkorn stepped down as well. Take a look at Daimler's press release below. Daimler AG categorically denies any and all allegations of manipulation Stuttgart, Sep 25, 2015 In light of the ongoing assertions from the Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), a non-government organisation, and the related speculation, Daimler AG once again clearly states that: We categorically deny the accusation of manipulating emission tests regarding our vehicles. A defeat device, a function which illegitimately reduces emissions during testing, has never been and will never be used at Daimler. This holds true for both diesel and petrol engines. Our engines meet and adhere to every legal requirement. In light of the written request by the DUH, which was sent to us this morning with a deadline to respond by 3:00 pm (CET), and the seven questions they posed, we can confirm that none of the allegations apply to our vehicles. The technical programming of our engines adheres to all legal requirements. We have no knowledge of measurements that indicate our vehicles did not meet legally required standards.