Along With Several Other New Versions

Along With Several Other New Versions

In the forthcoming years, the Stuttgart-based constructor will totally revise its SUV portfolio with new or updated versions. The biggest premiere of the years to come will be the third generation of the popular M-Klasse mid-sized SUV. The ML will be unveiled in 2011, some say at the middle of the year, others claim the end of it. As you may already know, the ML, along with its bigger brother, the GL- and the R-Klasse, is assembled at the Tuscaloosa Plant in Alabama, USA. ML 400 HYBRID - a 3.5 litres V6 petrol powerplant delivering 306 BHP, linked with a 20 HP electric unit. Sticking to the visual side of the car, the 2012 M-Klasse will be more of a logical aesthetical evolution rather than a complete revolution. The new front fascia will be styled in trend with the new Mercedes design philosophy. The profile will remain as sporty and elegant as in the present, whereas the tail end will receive a complete styling treatment a la E-Klasse. LEDs are sort of a today鈥檚 鈥榤ust鈥? so expect to see them as being part of the headlights and the rear lights.

Although the ML is an SUV, this car has never ever dissapointed its customers when it came to tackling hard, off-road terrains. This year, in the upcoming weeks, Mercedes-Benz will take the wraps off the facelifted version of the R-Klasse crossover. The sales flop mixture between a compact SUV, a MPV and an estate version will receive one more refresh, in an effort to save the low sale figures. However, this time the R-Klasse will suffer a major overhaul of the front fascia, including brand new headlights with LED technology, a larger radiator grille with 3 chromed louvres as well as a new bumper with restyled air intakes. The profile will retain the current look, whereas the rear end will benefit from the addition of updated tail lights, with a similar projector placement as in the case of the GLK-Klasse. The interior will hardly be retouched-only a new steering wheel borrowed from the E-Klasse and a rearrangement of certain controls on the center console. Expect premium materials for personalizing the interior, such as leather upholstery and wood/aluminium for trimming the dashboard and the door panels.

No major changes under the engine hood-just slight efficiency improvements of the current powerplants, designed to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emission. Mercedes-Benz is rumored to be mulling over the possibility of a name change for this model, which should end up badged as GLR-Klasse. What is somehow clear at the moment is that the new R-Klasse FL is expected to be officially revealed at the beginning of March, at the Geneva Motor Show. The old, but reliable G-Klasse, premiered over 30 years ago, will remain in production and will receive a facelift by the end of this year, just to keep it appealing and up-to-date. In the next years, Mercedes-Benz will also complete remaster its small and compact car lineups, the A- & the B-Klasse. Along with several other new versions, customers will also have the choice of a compact SUV, which could possibly be badged BLK-Klasse(internal codename-X 156). The little brother of the GLK could be introduced in 2011 or 2012. All rights reserved.

20 somewhere else, they're delighted, they don't care how much the seat was. Tavarish: I understand that argument with production cars, but with motorcycles, I'm not sure you would have too much of that. 6800 price tag, to me, seems a little far-fetched. Paul Elio: Right. And part of that is volumes. The seat framing that we're using is in a bunch of other vehicles already. The brakes we're getting are in a bunch of other vehicles already. So you have these enormous automotive volumes and there's an enormous research and development budget that's spent on them. 20,000, and look what you can get for the same money with a car. You just get a lot more. 6800 seems too good to be true. Paul Elio: In all honesty, it's a stretch target. 500 over budget today. 7300. I don't view it as a failure, and we're working hard to hit our numbers because I think we have a decent shot of doing it. That number isn't made up, we have every single part that's required to make this vehicle, we have 87 percent quoted by part number and 98 percent by dollar value. So we can do this, I have the data to back it up. In the next article, I'll talk to Paul about how expensive it is to start a car company, and if his financial goals are realistic with major factors such as legislature and the volatility of consumer demand. Tavarish is the founder of APiDA Online and writes about buying and selling cool cars on the internet. He owns the world's cheapest Mercedes S-Class, a graffiti-bombed Lexus, and he's the only Jalopnik author that has never driven a Miata. He also has a real name that he didn't feel was journalist-y enough so he used a pen name and this was the best he could do.