Posted by Admin on
December 29, 2008
Cranky Brit auto-journalist extraordinaire Jeremy Clarkson has, shockingly, named the 2009 Corvette ZR1 the best car of this past year. Of course, he also selected an American car as one of the worst.
When Jeremy Clarkson first reviewed the ZR1 he claimed love for the American-made supercar despite the propensity for it to disintegrate. In his year-end retrospective for the Sunday Times he essentially repeats this claim but says, despite this, it was the best car of the year.
And then out of nowhere came the ZR1, which has a supercharged V8 that manages to be both docile and extraordinarily savage all at the same time. I’ve been trying to think of a dog that pulls off a similar trick, but there isn’t one. And anyway, this car is not a dog.
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Posted by Admin on
August 23, 2008

Despite the Mercedes Benz w221 S-Class being out for a few years now, the flagship luxury car has once again been named the best new luxury car in the Auto Express “New Car Honours.” This makes the 3rd consecutive year the Mercedes S-Class has won the award, yet another further testament to the luxury sedan’s impressive dominance in its respective segment.
According to Auto Express editor in chief David Johns: “Few cars have reigned over such competitive sectors with such complete authority as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. To many there simply isn’t a better limousine. Beautifully engineered both inside and out, it’s one of those rare cars that is as good to drive as it is to be driven in.”
Dermot Kelly, managing director of Mercedes-Benz, added: “The S-Class has been an enduring success with press and customers alike and accounted for one in every four luxury saloon sales last year. We are delighted that Auto Express still recognises S-Class as the best luxury car in the sector.”
The full press release detailing the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and its victory in the Auto Express New Car Honours 2008 is after the jump.
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Posted by Admin on
July 15, 2008

Those fine folks over at Automobile magazine have bestowed their “Funky Ergonomics Awards” again this year. As one could imagine, BMW’s iDrive and 7 Series interior (pictured above) again tops the list of bad designs. (Rightly so.) Their list includes convenience keys that are downright inconvenient, window switches that require broken wrists to operate, touchscreens that are dangerously slow to respond, all center-of-the-dashboard mounted instrument clusters, complicated navigation systems, reverse-action manu-matic transmissions, and dimly lit interiors.
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Posted by Admin on
June 11, 2008

In the latest round of customer surveys conducted by U.S. market research institute J.D. Power, Mercedes-Benz has become the recipient of not 1… not 2… but 3 accolades. Receiving 2 gold awards for the highest vehicle quality in their respective market segments are the E-Class and CLK-Class, while the Platinum Award was bestowed upon Mercedes Benz’s Sindelfingen plant. The Platinum award makes it the assembly facility with the best delivered quality worldwide. Overall, Mercedes improved one place over last year – ranking fourth in overall quality – and it was also the only European brand to win an individual model award.
How does J.D. Power arrive at the results? Market researchers investigate the satisfaction of American customers within the first 90 days of their vehicle purchases, evaluating the quality of both the concept and execution of the purchased vehicle. This year, the opinions of some 80,000 verified owners were tabulated, all of whom owned 2008 model year vehicles.
To learn more about the latest J.D. Power Quality Study as well as how the Mercedes-Benz brand fared, you can find the full details below and at J.D. Power’s Website.
Enjoy.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Latest J.D. Power Quality Study from the U.S.: Mercedes-Benz receives three awards for best product quality
Stuttgart – Mercedes-Benz is one of the most successful auto brands in this year’s customer survey conducted by U.S. market research institute J.D. Power. The Stuttgart car brand receives two gold awards for the highest vehicle quality in their respective market segments, and is also honoured for the world’s best production plant. This outstanding result is one outcome of the initiative launched by Mercedes-Benz to raise customer satisfaction and product quality.
In conducting the annual study, market researchers investigate the satisfaction of American customers with new vehicle purchases within the first 90 days, and evaluate the quality of both the concept and execution of the vehicle. Overall, Mercedes-Benz moved up one place against last year from fifth to fourth, and is the only vehicle brand with three models (CLK, E and S-Class) within the top ten passenger vehicles.
This year saw the E-Class and the CLK each receive gold J.D. Power Awards. According to the U.S. study, these models are the highest quality vehicles in their market segments. Furthermore, Mercedes’ Sindelfingen plant receives the Platinum Award, making it the assembly facility with the best delivered quality worldwide.
Copyright © 2008, Daimler AG
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Posted by Admin on
June 4, 2008

The Awards for Strategic Vision’s 2008 Total Quality Awards have been cast, and this year, three companies – Mercedes Benz, Honda and Toyota all have 2 models on the list that have managed to win in their respective categories.
The Strategic Vision’s Total Quality Awards are rated by The Total Quality Index™ which, of course, is the premier measure of new vehicle owner satisfaction. Strategic Vision asks buyers to rate every aspect of the ownership experience, from buying and owning to performance and driving. It is much more than simply counting problems.
The full press release is below.
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