The Crank: Mercedes’ don’t-call-it-a-wagon CLS Shooting Brake a go

By John LeBlanc After trotting it out as a “Vision” concept (code for “we’ve already signed-off on the tooling”) at this year’s Beijing show, to no one’s surprise, Mercedes-Benz confirmed that its CLS Shooting Break, above, would go on sale in 2012.

First Drive: 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS 550 4MATIC

[svgallery name=”2012_Mercedes_CLS_hirez”] Four-door fashion Second gen of world’s first “four-door coupé” nips at BMW’s ride-and-handling heels By John LeBlanc FLORENCE, Italy – It was no coincidence Mercedes-Benz’s new CLS was publicly unveiled during the clothing industry’s twice-a-year Paris Fashion Week. Although the new SLS AMG super sports car has garnered plenty of attention for its […]

The Crank: Is adventurous car design dead?

By John LeBlanc We waited for this? was my thought bubble when spy shots of what is speculated to be the next-gen Honda Civic in hot weather testing showed up in a video (above) this week. But then, I had the same light bulb go off when I first saw der neu BMW 6 Series […]

Paris 2010: Design Disasters

By John LeBlanc PARIS, France – Is it me, or is car design in a bit of a funk? Maybe it’s the new pedestrian laws—that are demanding higher hoodlines and subsequently taller (i.e. odd) proportions. Or maybe the financial demand of making the tougher fuel economy and emissions regulations has crunched automotive design department budgets. […]

2010 Detroit: Next Mercedes-Benz CLS hinted at

By John LeBlanc DETROIT – Borrowing a quote from the irascible Incredible Hulk, Mercedes head cheese Dr Dieter Zetsche summed up the German automaker’s immediate product plans here in Detroit by saying, “We are strong, we are green and we are ready to roll.”

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