New Aero-Style Maybach 6 is a Stunning

The Mercedes-Benz introduced a stunning concept today.

Source: Mercedes-Benz

Source: Mercedes-Benz

The enormous hood, low roof line, and rear-positioned passenger compartment are meant to be a "reinterpretation of classic, aesthetic principles" while still exhibiting an aerodynamic design. That's important because the car is said to have a 738-horsepower electric engine with a range of more than 200 miles. Slippery aerodynamic design would be crucial to achieving that goal.

The gullwing doors are a Mercedes hallmark going back to the iconic 1954 Mercedes 300 SL and, more recently, the Mercedes SLS AMG.

Source: The Verge

Fighting Uber to Protect the Old Model Likely Not Going to Work

Hamptons Delaying the Inevitable by Preventing Uber Despite Demand (click through to watch video)

Hamptons Delaying the Inevitable by Preventing Uber Despite Demand (click through to watch video)

Towns and Villages with entrenched relationships with local taxi services are fighting against Uber, Lyft and others. The Invisible Hand of the Market (thanks Adam Smith!) will declare ultimate victory for the new services. As resident of the East End, I can't wait for app-enabled car service.

According to CBS New York:

“We certainly don’t want people drinking and driving, so it’s a model that could work out here,” Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said, “We just don’t want to create an unfair advantage for Uber which they currently have.”
Taxi owners who say business was crushed by Uber want an even playing field.
“They come from city, they sleep in cars and only work the weekend. Taking local business away,” All Hampton Taxi Owner Rhahat Mumtaz said.
“It’s not only leveling the playing field, it’s also protection of constituents,” Southampton Town Councilman and bill sponsor, Stan Glinka said.
Riders worry that registration will keep Uber out. Horror stories abound of endless waits and exorbitant fares for standard cabs.

Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/03/08/east-end-uber-regulations/

Google and M.I.T. Identify Seniors as Key Market for Self Driving Vehicles

Stranded seniors are likely a ripe market for self-driving cars, according to Google and M.I.T.'s AgeLab.

Florence Swanson has lived through every American car from the Ford Model T to the Tesla Model S. Now, at 94, she has stepped into what Google hopes will be the automotive future: self-driving vehicles.
After her painting of a guitar player won a Google contest, she became the oldest person yet to ride in a model with the company’s autonomous technology.
“You haven’t lived until you get in one of those cars,” the Austin, Texas, resident said of her half-hour excursion. “I couldn’t believe that the car could talk. I felt completely safe.”
Google is betting others will share her sentiment. With more than 43 million people in the U.S. now 65 and older, and 10,000 more hitting that mark every day, aging Americans are a natural target market for self-driving vehicles. Mobility needs -- getting to the doctor or the grocery store, seeing family and friends -- become paramount for seniors, especially since 79 percent live in suburbs and rural areas.

Source: Automotive News

Best in show at Geneva: Will This Opel Make it to the US?

This hatchback won car of the year at Geneva this year. In a world of luxury sedans taking other awards, is there a trend towards the pragmatic?

Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann praised "the toughest jury in the industry," and said the car's designers made a lighter, more spacious and elegant version with this 2015 edition, which has racked up 130,000 sales. Opel is known as Vauxhall in the UK.
Seven European automotive publications were behind the award. Most of the seven finalists except the Jaguar XE and the BMW 7-Series sedan were basic transportation vehicles. The others were the Audi A4, the Mazda MX5, the Skoda Superb and the Volvo XC90 SUV.

Source: Times of India

How Nissan is Buying Market Share

Interesting way that Nissan is investing in some dealerships over others.

In its drive to grab more U.S. market share, Nissan North America is quietly forming alliances with selected dealers who get favorable treatment, and sometimes millions of dollars, from the company.
One so-called preferred dealer is Bernie Moreno, who has acquired two Nissan and three Infiniti stores in Ohio in the past six years. To help him ramp up and expand, Nissan promised to give him as much as $6.6 million, according to court documents from a case related to an open Infiniti point awarded to Moreno in Coral Gables, Fla.
For the Coral Gables location, Nissan agreed to give Moreno as much as $4.4 million -- $200,000 when the dealership opens and an additional $120,000 per quarter for up to seven years -- if sales goals are achieved, according to a 2014 agreement signed by Moreno and Nissan. He is also supposed to get $1 million for store improvements -- about twice the amount Nissan normally provides, according to court documents.