The coming CLS appears to offer more of the same: the current CLS is based on the E-Class platform; the next one is expected to be built atop S-Class underpinnings. Other than bigger body with a wider track, and bolder styling to harmonize with Mercedes’ current design language, not much is expected to change.

That is usually the case with iconic cars. Having invented the category of the four-door-car with a more coupe-like silhouette, Mercedes could be waiting to see what its rivals — from Aston Martin to VW — will bring to the segment before it makes a revolutionary move.

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Mercedes-Benz continues its commitment to further reductions in fuel consumption and exhaust emissions with new products in four model series at this year’s Geneva Motor Show.

Topping the list of the new Mercedes dream machines celebrating their public premiere right now in Geneva is the SL-Class. Mercedes-Benz has refined the iconic roadster to a level of detail that goes well beyond a mere model facelift, said an official spokesman.

The new, decidedly sporty and assured exterior design reflects the handling characteristics of this Mercedes roadster, which is now even more agile with a new direct-steer system while offering even more safety and comfort.

Two new six-cylinder engines will round off the SL range from spring 2008. The SL 280 develops 231 hp and provides an attractive entry into the SL sports car world. The SL 350 is powered by a newly developed and particularly lively sports engine.

Output has increased by 16 percent to 316 hp compared to the previous 3.5-litre engine, while maximum torque has improved by 10 Nm to 360 newton metres. The flagship models in this series continue to be the SL 500 with a V8 engine and the twelve-cylinder SL 600.

Following a comprehensive model facelift, the Mercedes-Benz SLK is now even more dynamic and provides an even more emotional driving experience. The most important visual changes include a redesigned front and rear end, as well as a carefully modified interior with a new instrument cluster and three-spoke sports steering wheel.

Mercedes-Benz also installs the V6 sports engine from the SL-Class in the new SLK 350, where it develops an output of 305 hp at 6500 rpm, 33 hp more than the six-cylinder unit in the previous SLK 350.

Compact body dimensions and powerful proportions underline the sporty appearance of the new CLC. With its striking coupé radiator grille, which has a large Mercedes star at its centre, as well as the new projection-beam headlamps, the Sports Coupé follows the modern Mercedes design idiom.

The interior of the new Mercedes-Benz CLC is akin to a modern bespoke suit. Sports seats with further improved lateral support, a three-spoke multifunction steering wheel, automatic climate control and brushed aluminium trim are standard equipment.
The new CLC is available with a choice of four four-cylinder and two six-cylinder engines developing outputs from 122 hp to 272 hp.

The unique, four-door CLS Coupé, which pioneered a new automotive segment, has also been made more attractive than ever by specific fine-tuning. The front aspect is dominated by a modified radiator grille, which now has two rather than the previous four louvres.

The exterior mirrors also have a new shape, with integrated, arrow-shaped LED indicator repeaters and more than 30 percent larger lenses. The tail lights are now also in LED technology: the brake lights, rear lights and indicators feature particularly fast-responding light-emitting diodes.

Great attention to detail has also been lavished on the updated interior: a newly designed leather steering wheel with three spokes and multifunction buttons is part of the package, as is a new-look instrument cluster, whose white dial faces form an attractive contrast to the structured surface of the backplate. New chestnut wood inserts replace the previous trim.

Mercedes-Benz now offers an entry-level CLS 280 with an up-to-date 2996 cc V6 engine, a maximum output of 231 hp and a maximum torque of 300 newton metres.

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One of the country’s leading automobile distributors, Rancon Motors, is to assemble Mercedes-Benz buses in Bangladesh for the first time, in an attempt to tap the growing demand for luxury buses among the long distance coach companies.

“The market for luxurious buses is growing. We hope it’s an opportunity to tap the potential,” said Romo R Chowdhury, managing director of Rancon Motors, promoting the Mercedes-Benz brand in Bangladesh.

“We are hopeful to hit the market by June 2009,” he said.

The company, according to its managing director, will be able to cut the price of Mercedes-Benz buses by about Tk 40 lakh to nearly Tk 1.10 crore after the establishment of the assembling plant.

Currently one Mercedes-Benz bus costs around Tk 1.50 crore as it enters Bangladesh in completely built form.

“It will be affordable to many bus companies due to assembling facilities here,” the Rancon MD said.

Rancon Motors, a concern of Rangs Group, took the initiative after it signed commercial vehicles supplying contracts with some local long distance bus operators such as Saudia and S Alam.

“We are facing demands from some other operators because the buses are fuel-efficient,” he said.

Luxurious commercial passenger vehicles made their ways on Bangladesh roads during the late nineties to cope with the changes in the tastes of consumers who are travelling by buses at a growing rate due to faster road communication compared to railway’s.

The market for luxurious bus, according to operators, is about 60-80 units a year, and is growing between 15 and 20 percent annually as leading long distance bus companies are shifting their focus to this segment.

At present, operators such as Green Line and Sohag Paribahan are offering services with Scania and Volvo buses on different routes, while Saudia and S Alam have brought Mercedes-Benz buses by forming joint venture.

Operators said none of these brands is assembled here, rather being imported from India and Malaysia.

Local Navana Group, IFAD Autos and Nitol Group assemble Hino, Ashok Leyland and Tata brand buses.

The required investment for establishing a bus assembling plant is lower compared to that for setting up an automobile assembling unit, Romo said.

“We now depend on Malaysian companies to assemble and build the bodies of the Mercedes-Benz buses. The local assembling plant will help us offer lower prices due to cheap labour here,” he added.

Rancon Motors, which currently imports auto parts from Brazil, has already got go-ahead from Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler AG to assemble the bus.

“We have already got the Daimler permission to assemble the bus,” Romo said. “Now we are in talks with a Malaysian bus-body building company to sign a technology transfer agreement.”

“Hopefully we will be able to ink the deal within the next two months,” he added.

Rancon Motors, also distributor of Mitsubishi brand autos in Bangladesh, will initially invest Tk 15 crore to start the plant in Savar, Dhaka and expects to assemble around 10 units of buses a month.

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The Geneva Motor Show is not just about the glitter and gloss of this year’s newest cars - it is about the future. Beneath the wheeled glamour that adorned the stands of the world’s leading manufacturers lurked a rising tide of technology that will sweep through the automotive industry and transform the way we travel.

For more than two decades the level of theories about what might eventually be possible and practical has been rising. Some of these, including fuel-cell cars for all and ultra-safe, automatically guided car convoys on motorways controlled by intelligent cruise control systems, have shifted from fiction to eagerly expected fact - and apparently back to fiction again as we have waited for science and engineering to deliver.

But be patient; the car industry’s top men at Geneva were confident that these and many other advances are close. The list includes the convergence of diesel and petrol engine technology to give high performance with low fuel consumption, remarkably frugal diesel hybrids and, at long last, fuel-cell cars. Fuel cells use hydrogen to create electricity and have been hailed for years as the technology that will power no-emission cars of the future.

At Mercedes-Benz, Dr Dieter Zetsche, the chairman, insisted that the company was “very, very serious” about mass producing fuel-cell cars, something about which others in the industry are now very cautious. The start of that mass production will be in 2010 at an extremely low level in the B-Class but Zetsche says that he is convinced that by 2014-15, distinctive, economically competitive fuel-cell models will be in production, probably rising to 100,000 a year.

Honda is also taking fuel cells very seriously (its production FCX Clarity for the Californian market was at Geneva), even though the infrastructure to support them is all but invisible - something that must be developed in parallel with the new technology, Zetsche said.

Around 2015, Mercedes also expects its oddly named DiesOtto diesel-petrol convergence engine to reach production. And Mercedes has announced that a petrol-electric S-Class hybrid capable of an impressive mix of performance, economy (36mpg combined), luxury and elegance will go on sale next year.

With Porsche’s involvement with Volkswagen strengthening, it is likely to introduce diesel models for the first time and it is already planning to market the Cayenne and, almost certainly, next year’s Panamera saloon as petrol hybrids. As for safety, Wolfgang Durheimer, Porsche’s research and development executive vice-president, said at Geneva that he firmly believes that it will eventually be possible for cars to travel rapidly but safely close together - “almost like the carriages of a train” - on the motorway, with electronics taking the strain of maximising safety.

Premium luxury cars face significant challenges to cut CO2 emissions but Bentley announced at Geneva that it would reduce levels by 15 per cent by 2012, with its engines able to use second generation biofuels. And Dr Ulrich Eichhorn, Bentley’s engineering director, revealed that an “alternative powertrain” that will cut CO2 emissions by up to 40 per cent is being developed. A hybrid? A diesel? Eichhorn answered questions with an enigmatic smile: “I don’t want to spoil the surprise.” All this is for future Geneva shows. But the present one has plenty of new arrivals - albeit with few real surprises.

They include Ford’s fine new, coupé-esque Fiesta, that will be on sale later this year. Volkswagen has reprised the Scirocco name for a good-looking, Golf-based coupé and the three-plus-one seater Toyota iQ 3+1 is potentially a brilliant new addition to the minicar world, although probably at more than £9,000. Skoda’s luxurious new Superb lays the ghost of a thousand jokes, while the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé with its sky-at-night fibre-optic roof lining that spoils a superbly elegant interior just might generate some.

Honda’s new Accord has quality and space. At 183mph, the 4.7-litre GTS is Maserati’s fastest production car. Volvo’s XC60 makes a practical crossover SUV look very classy and Citroën’s all-new C5 saloon and estate add a touch of French chic. And that is what Renault’s gull-wing Mégane concept coupé certainly has, while Kia’s Soul is boxy, bluff but attractive.

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