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Yesterday, Daimler Trucks inaugurated its new Global Hybrid Center at Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) in Kawasaki. Located within the company’s R&D facilities, the Center will be the worldwide hub for Daimler Trucks’ hybrid development. A ceremony was held today to officially open the Center. MFTBC is an integral part of the Daimler Trucks division of Daimler AG, and one of Asia’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers.

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Advertisement at Russian Airport. Ad Copy:”This isn’t a private plane” and “But it feels like one”

Only a few decades ago, Russians were famous for driving Volgas and Lada’s, or some other locally made products; flash forward to 2008, and you’ll see a totally different Russia. The Russian luxury car market is one of the fastest growing in the world, which has set off a rat race between the premium German car makers. Reuters has published a great article on the up and coming Russian revolution, where nothing is too expensive and everything is worth showing off.

Mercedes customer deliveries in Russia rose 65% last year, compared to 55% for BMW and 52% for Audi. The trio enjoy higher-margin sales thanks to the desire by many in Russia to display their wealth by driving the most expensive cars.

“There is another big difference about our customers — they are considerably younger. Our average Mercedes buyer is between 35-37 years of age, in other words roughly 15 years younger than elsewhere,” said Juergen Sauer, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Russia SAO.

Continue reading the article over at Reuters

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Carlsson, one of many respected Mercedes tuners, has taken the SL63 monster from AMG and given it a small upgrade. Besides changing some of the cosmetic features on the CK63, like new wheels and front/back body kits, they focused their attention on something more important - the engine. We are not exactly sure what they have done to the engine, but they were able to increase the horsepower to an amazing 565, from the original 525hp. We can only speculate that the 40hp increase was achieved via a chip or software modification. Enjoy.

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Thanks Bo from sportbilen.se for the tip

Our friend, Richard Truesdell from Automotive Traveler, came across test vehicles of what appears to be AMG versions of the 2009 S-Class and CL-Class. As of now, the only evolutionary changes that we can spot is the front fascia. The lack of camo gives might be a hint that these vehicles are on their final test run for a mid-cycle refresh for 2009. Just as Rich stated, we might be moments away from an official word from Stuttgart, introducing both the S and CL face lifted 2009 model.

Check out the entire gallery at Automotive Traveler

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Richard Truesdell, from Automotive Traveler, has snapped some fresh spy shots of the SLR successor and future Mercedes-Benz Gullwing in the California Desert. The new super car, hailed to compete against the R8 and even the Italian super cars, is cloaked with enormous amounts of camo to conceal any details that may giveaway the final design. Like many have pointed out, the design on the test mule looks a lot like a Dodge Viper, but that’s of course not the point of a test vehicle, rather, it’s the internal parts that are important. Multiple sources have speculated that Mercedes-Benz and their AMG performance wing might equip the Gullwing with a 6.3 liter V8 with over 570Hp and an 8 speed transmission. Until we get some official specs and as we move closer to the magical date, rumored to be in 2011, we just have to rely on spy shots such as these to tell us the story.

Check out the entire gallery at Automotive Traveler

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As of August 29, 2008 Mercedes-Benz TV will also be available via TV DIGITAL Personal. This new personalized TV platform provided by publisher Axel Springer is to be launched at the forthcoming IFA consumer electronics trade fair in Berlin. Mercedes-Benz TV will feature in the schedules of the new platform as a fully independent channel.

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