Mercedes - Repair and Service Redwood City - Mercedes - Repair and Service Redwood City - Mercedes-Benz X-Class pickup truck to end production in May - Bosch European Redwood City - (650) 368-3000- Bosch European Redwood City - (650) 368-3000

The Mercedes-Benz X-Class mid-size pickup truck was launched with great fanfare in 2017 but slow sales and a need to cut costs means production will end as soon as May.

“It has been decided that from the end of May 2020, we will no longer produce this relatively young model,” Mercedes said in a statement released last week.

The X-Class rides on a platform borrowed from the Nissan NP300 Navara and is positioned as a more premium alternative to existing contenders in the global mid-size pickup segment, dominated by the likes of the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux.

  

2018 Mercedes-Benz X-Class

The formula has been unsuccessful, with X-Class sales worldwide reaching just 15,300 units in 2019. The total is less than 15 percent of the number of NP300 Navaras Nissan sells in a year.

Mercedes never offered the X-Class in the United States. To avoid the long-standing Chicken Tax, Mercedes would have had to build the truck locally, which seemed unlikely from the start. Instead, the X-Class was limited to South Africa, Australia, Europe, and South America.

The news doesn't come as a huge surprise given the low volumes. Mercedes parent company Daimler also said last November it was seeking cost savings of around $1.1 billion by the end of 2022. The savings are to come via cuts to jobs, slow-selling models, and investment in property, plant and equipment.

 source: https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1124054_mercedes-benz-x-class-pickup-truck-to-end-production-in-may

by Viknesh Vijayenthiran

http://www.boscheuropean.com

Jaguar - Repair and Service Redwood City - Jaguar Land Rover created a shape-shifting seat to make you think you're walking - Bosch European Redwood City - (650) 368-3000

Jaguar Land Rover created an experimental seat designed to simulate walking to improve overall health, the brand announced last Friday.

The concept seems strange but it's a simple matter of stimulation. A series of actuators in the seat foam make constant micro-adjustments that simulate walking, which is known as pelvic oscillation.

JLR says the technology could help reduce the health risks of sitting down too long in a society that is increasingly becoming sedentary. JRL said more than 1.4 billion people worldwide are becoming more sedentary, which shortens the muscles in the legs, hips, and glutes and leads to back pain.

JLR says its "morphable" seat is being tested by the company's Body Interiors Research division. The actuations in the cushions could be tailored to the driver and passenger. If bodies feel like they're walking, instead of sitting, it could be better for overall health after long hours in a car seat.

Current Jaguar Land Rover vehicles have ergonomic seat designs with multiple power adjustments. Massage and climate control functions are also available.

JLR says the morphable seat is part of an overall process to improve customers' well-being. Other projects have studied ways to reduce motion sickness and use ultraviolet light to stop the spread of colds and flu.

The company has not said if the morphable seat will be used in any of its cars. If it does, it will be good to know that JLR has your back.

source: https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1126826_jaguar-land-rover-created-a-shape-shifting-seat-to-make-you-think-you-re-walking
by Kirk Bell
http://www.boscheuropean.com

BMW - Repair and Service Redwood City - BMW made a V-16-powered 750iL named “Goldfisch” in 1987 - Bosch European Redwood City - (650) 368-3000

The 1980s were a time of excess, and brought with them the rise of BMW and Mercedes-Benz as the cars of choice to project success.

It should come as no surprise, then, that German automakers and excess overlapped more than once. This V-16-powered 1987 BMW 750iL is one of the best examples of the intersection between "Why would they build that?" and "Why not?"

Dubbed the Goldfisch (yes, it means goldfish), this one-of-a-kind 7-Series featured a 6.6-liter V-16 engine derived from BMW's existing V-12, BMWBlog reported in November. The resulting mill was so large it wouldn't fit under the hood of BMW's long-wheelbase sedan without significant modifications. 

To find that space, BMW elected to move the radiator to the trunk. In fact, BMW mounted two radiators in the trunk, and fed them with air via two ridiculous fiberglass ducts fitted to the rear quarter panels. 

That got the heat out of the engine's coolant, but not out of the car. For that, BMW's engineers built in a complex trunk-lid-mounted air extraction system that pumped the unwanted heat into the car's slipstream. 

The result? A 408-horsepower executive sedan. While that may not sound like a lot by today's standards, it was a monster 32 years ago. For context, the infamous Mercedes-Benz AMG "Hammer" boasted a 6.0-liter V-8 making 375 horsepower, and that was super sedan royalty at the time.

BMW's impractical monster was never meant to see production, which is just fine. Things this weird should be unique. A showroom-spec Goldfisch would have come without the ridiculous engineering solutions that make this car so interesting.

 source: https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1126111_bmw-made-a-v-16-powered-750il-named-goldfisch-in-1987

by Byron Hurd

http://www.boscheuropean.com