William Maley

William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 28, 2011 For the past decade, the best selling luxury brand has been Lexus. However, 2011 has been a fall of grace for Lexus and caused them to relinquish their top selling crowd. Now, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are fighting to see who becomes the top seller. At last tally, BMW holds a slight edge of Mercedes, selling 1,582 more vehicles than Mercedes in November. Now, entering the final month of 2012, both are going all out on incentives. TrueCar.com says BMW and Mercedes-Benz are offering approximately $4,800 USD in discounts by way of subsidizing interest rates (as low as 0.9 percent), waiving lease payments for the initial months, increasing the residual value of vehicles when the lease expires, and other incentives. Source: CarScoop View full article

William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersamdGears.com December 28, 2011 Heather Peters is angry with Honda. Her 2006 Civic Hybrid doesn't get its claimed EPA fuel economy and she isn't satisfied with a proposed class-action lawsuit settlement that would give lawyers $8.5 million while Civic owners would get as little as $100 and rebate coupons for the purchase of a new vehicle. She could take Honda to court. But with Honda's army of lawyers, she wouldn't have a chance. But, Peters has found a way to get a chance and keep Honda's lawyers out of the proceedings. On January 3 she'll take her case to Small Claims Court in Torrance, California and ask for the maximum compensation ($10,000) to compensate her for spending much more on gasoline than expected. You might be wondering why going to Small Claims Court helps Peters avoids the army of lawyers. Well, California Small Claims Court law states parties must represent themselves and cannot use an attorney. That means Peters can deal with Honda directly. Peters isn't stopping here though. She has started a website called DontSettleWithHonda.org and an Twitter account, DontSettleWithHonda giving owners a link to state-by-state instructions for filing these lawsuits. "I want them to know they can file in Small Claims Court and that it is not so scary," Peters told the LA Times. Some people are calling Peters’ plan a game-changer, not only for the automotive industry but for all large corporations in the U.S. “This could create a lot of problems in the industry,” said Aaron Jacoby, a defense attorney at the Arent Fox law firm in Los Angeles who also heads the automotive industry group. Not every state affords the same luxury as California's Small Claims Courts. But the efforts by Peters could prove costly and troublesome to automakers it it succeeds. Source: LA Times View full article

William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 28, 2011 The Mecedes-Benz G55 AMG, the official vehicle of OPEC, is getting a refresh. Spy shots of some lightly camouflaged prototypes undergoing testing in Europe were released yesterday. The refreshed G55 AMG will get AMG's 5.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 producing around 525HP and 516 lb-ft of torque. It's unknown if the G55 will get the 7-Speed AMG SpeedShift MCT transmission. There is also a rumored G-Wagen with a AMG tuned 6.0L bi-turbocharged V12 producing 612 HP and an eye-watering 737 lb-ft of torque. Both vehicles will come with minor exterior changes including a restyled front bumper with extra air-vents, plus different wheel and exterior mirror cap designs. Inside, the G-Wagen will enter the new millennium with a new instrument cluster, dashboard, center console, and steering wheel. Source: CarScoop View full article

William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 28, 2011 Left Lane News posted spyshots of a couple Ford S-Max prototypes running around in Dearborn yesterday. The vehicles in the shots are the Ford Grand C-Max. However, an extended wheelbase and and a larger rear cargo area state this is an S-Max in drag. Left Lane News speculates the next generation S-Max could making it’s way to our shores. Their reasoning; Ford nixed the idea offering the C-Max as a seven passenger model due to it not being a true seven seater (5+2 layout) and it not suiting to American tastes. The S-Max is a true seven seater and would suit American tastes. At first, this seems a bit ridiculous. But a quick dig in the C&G news archive brings up a comment from Ford spokesman Mark Schirmer when asked if Ford was keeping the 7-seat C-Max on the back burner. "we never close the door" completely on bringing over the C-Max. If Ford was to offer a production S-Max, expect a range of gas and hybrid powertrains and for it to come out sometime within the next few years. We’re not holding our breath on this. Source: Left Lane News View full article