ON THE TABLE

December 5, 2012

 Mercedes-Benz. AdAge reports that Mercedes-Benz will introduce its new CLA coupe on the Super Bowl XLVII broadcast. In an interview with Steve Cannon, CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, Cannon said, "We have something big to say and we think this is a great vehicle to reach out to that mass affluent audience," he said. "We hope to use the Super Bowl to kind of open up the Mercedes-Benz brand to a wider audience. There are a lot of people out there who just automatically put Mercedes-Benz in an out-of-reach category." Mercedes-Benz is also the presenting sponsor of the Louisiana Superdome, now known as the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Oh and by the way, super model Kate Upton will appear in the commercial (along with Usher), just in case no one notices the car.

 Steve Cannon. Editor-in-Chief's Note: That statement by Steve Cannon (above) is a bit frightening. "... There are a lot of people out there who just automatically put Mercedes-Benz in an out-of-reach category." Mercedes executives have said the exact same thing over the years. It's that whole "we have to make the brand more approachable" argument and it has led Mercedes down the wrong path in this market before. Every single time in fact. Whenever I hear this from Mercedes executives it's a sure sign that they're embracing the dreaded "V" word, as in volume, to appease the German overlords back at headquarters. It's that same attitude that has propelled Mercedes into a sales war with BMW in this market, with both automakers acting like Cadillac and Lincoln in the 80s. And it's that same attitude that has led Mercedes into playing in segments it doesn't belong in. Remember the C-Class Kompressor Coupe from the early 2000s? Yes, of course the impact of CLA will be different, right? Right. Things seem to go in cycles with Mercedes. They go down this road for a while until they wake up and suddenly realize that, "Wait a minute! We've deleted the specialness from the brand!" And then they go off - panicked - in the other direction, desperately trying to fix the Mercedes brand reputation overnight. Will they ever learn? Not any time soon I'm afraid. Because this is about image wrangling at the highest level, and Mercedes has demonstrated time and again that they only intermittently get it. And that's not good enough. - PMD

 Lincoln. The rejuvenating brand is going to use the Twitter universe guided by Jimmy Fallon and its New York-based ad agency - HudsonRouge - to solicit ideas for Lincoln's Super :60 Bowl commercial, continuing Ford's deep immersion in the social media space to market its cars.

(BMW)
The new BMW Concept 4 Series Coupe telegraphs what the new 4 Series Coupe that will replace the 3 Series Coupe and Convertible will look like. It is slightly longer and noticeably wider and good looking in the photos, but does BMW really need another number in its mix?

(BMW)
BMW Motorsport's return to the DTM in 2012 after almost 20 years away was very successful. Canadian driver Bruno Spengler won the drivers’ title, BMW Team Schnitzer finished in the top spot in the team standings, and BMW claimed the manufacturers’ championship. To celebrate the memorable season, BMW has unveiled the BMW M3 DTM Champion Edition. This special-edition model is available exclusively in Frozen Black metallic, with carbon flaps and gurney, various dark chrome elements, matte black wheels, BMW M stripe design over the CFRP roof and deck lid, BMW M logo behind the front wheel arches and decals in the rear side windows. Inside the car, the door sill strips replicate Spengler’s helmet design and the carbon-fiber interior trim strip bears the newly crowned champion’s signature and the car’s serial number. The special-edition model also includes an Alcantara® steering wheel, handbrake lever embroidered with “M Power” lettering, and extended black Novillo leather trim with features in contrasting Palladium Silver. Technical details include the Competition package, M Drive, M DCT Drivelogic and the M Driver’s Package. A navigation system, heated seats and Park Distance Control are also included. BMW M is also offering 54 of the buyers of the BMW M3 DTM Champion Edition – which will be available in various international markets – a special perk. These owners will have the chance to attend the BMW M Fascination Nordschleife driver training course under the watchful eye of Bruno Spengler. One of the most desired elements of the BMW Driving Experience program, the course is held on the Nürburgring’s legendary Nordschleife circuit. The BMW M3 DTM Champion Edition will be built at BMW’s Regensburg plant and the BMW M GmbH factory beginning in February 2013. Prices in Germany start from €99,000.00 including VAT.

(Audi)
The new Audi RS 6 Avant is lighter and more efficient than the previous model and performance has been improved. It sprints from 0 to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in just 3.9 seconds, according to Audi and top speed is 305 km/h (189.52 mph). The 4.0-liter TFSI twin-turbo V8 develops 412 kW (560 hp) and 700 Nm (516.29 lb-ft) of torque, but delivers an average fuel consumption of 9.8 liters per 100 kilometers (24.00 US mpg). Among the factors contributing to this figure are the new, standard start-stop system, innovative thermal management and cylinder on demand (COD) system. Fuel consumption has been reduced by roughly 40 percent compared to the previous model. The two large twin-scroll turbochargers are mounted together with the intercooler in the inside V of the cylinder banks. The exhaust side of the cylinder heads is also on the inside, the intake side outside. This concept allows for a compact design and short gas paths with minimal flow losses. The twin-turbo V8 is paired with an eight-speed tiptronic featuring shortened shift times. The automatic transmission offers D and S modes. Drivers who wish to shift for themselves can use the shift paddles on the steering wheel or the selector lever, which sports a unique RS design. The lower gears of the tiptronic are tightly spaced for sporty performance, while a tall eighth gear reduces fuel consumption. At the heart of the quattro permanent all-wheel drive system with torque vectoring is a self-locking center differential with an elevated locking value. An oil cooler regulates its temperature. If desired, the sport differential distributes the power steplessly between the rear wheels to further increase agility and stability. The new RS 6 Avant is the first RS model from Audi to come standard with a specifically tuned air suspension. The dynamic setup of the RS 6 adaptive air suspension lowers the body by 20 millimeters (0.79 in). The system combines the air suspension with controlled damping and takes into account road conditions, driving style and the mode chosen in the driving dynamics system Audi drive select, with which the driver can influence the function of key components in multiple steps. Big-ass brakes and numerous RS-specific design details underscore the distinctive appearance of the RS6 Avant, including high-gloss, 20-inch forged wheels, the matte aluminum applications on the body, the high-gloss black grille, the bumpers, the fender sill flares, the large roof spoiler, the diffuser and the two large, elliptical exhaust tailpipes. The rippin' Audi weighs roughly 100 kilograms (220.46 lb) lighter than its predecessor.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Our L.A.-based correspondent, Tom Pease, shares his thoughts on this year's L.A. Auto Show (below). Enjoy! - PMD

Letter from L.A.

By Tom Pease.

Beverly Hills. Every year I go to the LA Show I tell myself it's the last time. The trek to downtown is a pain, parking is expensive, I don't like crowds, blah, blah, blah. But I always end up going. This time on the rainy opening day.

You can tell the automotive landscape has changed drastically over the past ten years. Where it used to be the show was all about monster SUVs now it seems to be a sea of sedans. So much so that they kind of run together - is that a Kia, a Hyundai, a Buick or a Lexus? Sometimes even from the front it's getting hard to tell. The only ones that stood out were Honda, since they look five years old new, and Mercedes, Cadillac and BMW because of the grilles.

Speaking of Cadillac, I got to spend a bit of time with the new cars, and CUE. I had tried CUE last year and was told it was a work in progress. I tried it in the display car and it's a big pile of not good. They want to take the whole iPad experience and bring it to the automobile, but here's where that logic fails completely. The iPad (and other tablets) work as stand-alone devices because you are holding them in your hand and focusing on it to read your email, watch a movie or play Angry Birds. The only thing you should be focusing on in a car is driving, and an iPad-like experience to change the radio station or turn on the defroster is a distraction, not an enhancement. There's simply no reason not to have some buttons and dials on there so that a driver can be doing this without taking eyes off the road.

Additionally, the interface isn't very good. I was sitting in it trying to enter the address for City Hall in the nav system and it was maddening. The lady showing the car was trying to guide me on how to touch the virtual keyboard so it would accept my input. I know I'm not 22, but I'm not a Luddite and am typing this on my iPhone. If I need schooling on how to use your "experience" I think you're the one doing it wrong, not me. I expect Cadillac's JD Power scores to drop over this and stay there until they either get it right or just give it up and ask Apple to do it for them.

Which is too bad because it detracts from the actual car. They had one Cadillac ATS (Really? One? For which I had to wait 45 minutes in a tent to drive? Oy vey...), a red one with the black interior (with weird metal interior trim) and the turbo 4. The car is great fun to drive, with excellent steering and brakes and a complete lack of turbo lag. It's a perfect size for the city but is most likely not going to be a family hauler. The interior is snug and I would not like to be the passenger behind 6'2" me when I got myself comfortable.

But I suppose that's what the XTS is for. I drove it as well and I can comfortably write that they are going to sell a lot of them. It's a big, comfortable and luxurious car. It handles well with decent feedback from the wheel and good brake feel. It's amazing to me that a car that will hold four Lakers comfortably and their luggage handles at all, much less this well.

I also drove the new Lincoln MKZ, which I suppose is competition to both of these. It sort of slots between the two as far as size and apparent mission, although style-wise it's completely different. While the Cadillacs (despite CUE and the digital dash in the XTS) tend to go for more traditional luxury-car tropes, Lincoln opts for a more Bang and Olufson look, with push buttons instead of a gearshift and a floating center console under which provided perfect storage for my umbrella. They also offer the hybrid model at the same MSRP, which offers 45MPG city or highway. That would be the one for me.

I did notice that Bentley decided to join the big boys on the main floor, but walled themselves off from the hoi polloi with plexiglass and gatekeepers at the one entrance. I personally find that obnoxious in the extreme. I can understand that maybe you don't want little Johnny or Sue to climb all over the interior of the thing, but not letting them get within 20 feet of them? At a car show? Fine, then stay out of the South Hall and go back to the Concourse Hall with the other "aspirational" a$$hats.

P.S. - I actually got to spend a little more time with CUE since I was going to something with my friend who was having her 2011 SRX (that she loves) serviced and had a 2013. She was totally flummoxed by the unwarned appearance of CUE in her loaner and at one point said, "I'd give you AC if I could figure out how to turn it on". As a passenger, I saw that there were some redundant controls on the dash to turn on the AC, fan speed, etc., and some radio controls, so we had AC fairly quickly. But the loaner's radio was set on CNN on Sirius and it took me from Sunset all the way to Wilshire to actually get through the various menus to get the thing to KOST-FM. I didn't have time to figure out how to cancel the speed-sensitive radio volume, which caused her to have to change the volume about fifty-three times on the drive between Sunset and Olympic as we moved through traffic because we were, you know, actually talking, although I will admit if I were alone it would be a nice feature. I still think there's a serious learning curve in CUE, and that the dash controls are more along the line of form follows fashion. I'd be interested in whether some time with it would make me hate it more, or convince me.

But one thing that my friend, who is a tidy sort of girl, pointed out as a big negative? The display. "Look at all those fingerprints on there! Yuck!" I remembered the ladies at the Auto Show had cloths they'd wipe the displays with at regular intervals.

You don't need to do that with dials.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: It's deja vu all over again this week here at AE as our "quick take" has us in the 2013 Audi S6 quattro S tronic. Slightly narrower and shorter in overall length than last week's S7 and devoid of the hatchback body, the Audi S6 sedan is excellent in its own right and a chunk of change cheaper too (although still pricey). Everything I said last week about driving the S7 applies to the S6 although I found the S6 to be a little livelier for some reason, which is strange, because it's slightly heavier than the S7. But there's no question the S7 has a more dynamic visual presence on the road than the S6, even thought both share the same basic vehicle architecture and drivetrain underneath, and that may be enough for most enthusiasts in the market at that price range to blow right past the S6 and head straight for the S7. I know I would. - PMD

(Click on "next entry" below to read last week's "quick take" on the Audi S7- WG)

2013 Audi S6 quattro S tronic: $87,720 ($71,900 Base Price; Phantom Black pearl effect, $475; Black/Lunar Silver interior; Black headliner, Carbon Atlas inlays, $500; 4.0-liter TFSI V8 with 420HP and 406 lbs-ft of torque with Audi Cylinder on Demand technology; 7-speed S-tronic automatic gearbox with sport program and manual shift mode; quattro permanent all-wheel-drive system with sports rear differential; 19" alloy wheels with summer performance tires; Electromechanical vehicle speed-sensitive power steering; Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System, $5900; Innovation package - Audi adaptive cruise control with stop & go, Audi pre sense plus, Audi active lane assist & side assist, Head-up display, Night vision assistant, Cornerview camera system, Power folding exterior mirrors - $5,650; LED headlights with LED DRLs, $1400; 20" alloy wheels with summer tires, $1,000; Front filler panel; Destination Charge, $895.)

Adherence to Brand Image: As I stated last week, while Mercedes and BMW continue to engage in their juvenile, old-school sales wars in this market, Audi continues to focus on what it does best, which is to craft fundamental desirability throughout its product lineup. It took fifteen long years to get where Audi is today, and the company did it by focusing on what really matters, which is design and engineering execution (proven at the most prestigious endurance road race in the world, the 24 Hours of Le Mans), and an equally relentless adherence to its newly defined and emboldened image. They went after the influencers in the media and the industry first, then the enthusiasts, and now the consumer public is buying in too.  The result? Audi is the new luxury-performance standard. - PMD

 

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Our friend Casey Shain (http://artandcolourcars.blogspot.com/) has sent along another sample of his fabulous chopped cars (with his commentary), and we're thrilled to share them with our AE readers. This feature has proven to be very popular with the design community as well. So enjoy and we'll leave them up for a while. Thanks again to Casey for his visionary work. - PMD

Lincoln MkGT 2-seat sports car. V12 EcoBoost Hybrid. Big Bang at the Top!

Cadillac Seville notch-back sedan. A RWD sedan a rung above the XTS. Retros the original Seville's severe notch-back.

Buick Regal Century coupe. An updated AWD platform with the wheelbase extended in the front for ride and handling a la Audi.

Lincoln Continental flagship sedan. A V12 limited production sedan for the ultra luxury halo market.

Fiat 750 sport coupe. The 500's longer 2-seat sport coupe cousin. Think original seventies Honda Prelude for size and market.

Bentley GT 2-seater. A halo super coupe for two to traverse the grand routes of Europe at maximum speed and comfort.

Cadillac ATS coupe. Only a matter of time, I know it!

Chevrolet Malibu Maxx Concept. Updated for '14 as a 3-door hatchback with a full glass roof. The B pillars and greenhouse shape are evocative of the mid '70s Vega-based Monza.

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" with hosts John McElroy, from Autoline Detroit, and Peter De Lorenzo, The Autoextremist, and guests this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.

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