Welcome back ladies and gentlemen; I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and took advantage of the warmer-than-usual temperatures blanketing much of the country. To kick things off this morning comes a recap of the DTM season opener that took place in Hockenheim over the weekend. Rather than give you the full details of the race – something which could get somewhat confusing due to the number of Mercedes drivers involved – I’ll instead give you a quick summary of where each of the driver’s finished and let you check out the full press release for the actual race commentary. So without further ado, the Mercedes drivers’ results:
Categories:Mercedes Benz
It may not look like anything revolutionary to the untrained eye, but to hear DaimlerChrysler tell it, the all-new Freightliner Cascadia is very much a big deal. It’s built on a new platform that readily accepts EPA ’07-compliant engines and is ready to play home to powerplants built off DCX’s Global Heavy Duty Engine Platform, the first of which are set to arrive later this year from Detroit Diesel. It also incorporates a new, common Electric/Electronic Architecture, and many features and systems were designed from the outset to be easily accessible, repairable, and/or replaceable to ensure that the rig’s able to maximize its on-road time. 
I have been a travelling fool for the last few weeks with the Detroit Auto Show, Mercedes C-Class intro in Stuttgart and the Kia Rondo drive this week in Phoenix. And the schedule is not going to get any easier over the next few months…Â On my trip to Stuttgart, I heard what could be one of the biggest ‘Disses’ ever when (I won’t reveal their identity or what company they work for) threw a real backhanded slap at BMW. 
After a rough few years full of significant recalls, Mercedes-Benz appeared (or appears, depending on your perspective) to be getting its act together by successfully addressing its quality issues. The automaker just announced a major recall in Germany involving 130,000 vehicles windshield wiper motors that could be defective. While one recall a return to quality does not ruin, neither does it help. 
Can’t bring the E class in for service? Beck Imports will bring the service to you. The Mercedes-Benz dealership in Charlotte, N.C., now offers mobile maintenance and repair. Two Sprinter vans, each carrying $30,000 worth of service equipment, meet customers at their homes or offices — or, in one recent instance, the golf course. Other dealerships across the country offer mobile service. But Richard Mikels, Beck Import’s general manager, said the service his store rolled out in November is the state of the art. 
These engineers at Brabus sure are tough guys to please. Apparently, the top speed record they set at Nardo with the Brabus Rocket wasn’t good enough. Some of you may recall that back in June, we reported that the Rocket maxed out at 362.4 km/h (225.18 mph) on a top speed attempt at the Italian track. That was good enough to snare the uber-CLS the lofty title of “Fastest Sedan in the World.”