Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class 2015 News

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced its latest round of automotive recalls, with models from Citroen, Holden, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi and Peugeot affected.

Last year the vehicle market notched up a record with 1,136,227 sales, busting the previous zenith by about 24,000 and confirming that in Australia, one million-plus is the norm.Figures for November, released last week, show sales have already passed the million mark, and when the final tally emerges in early January the industry will congratulate itself on another bumper year.In reality, it has spent most of 2014 in reverse and it would take a freak December to even approach last year's total.If the trend holds, then the overall decline will be about 2 per cent - equivalent to 500 fewer buyers a week. But it's a mixed picture for the 50 or so brands, with the gap between winners and losers larger than ever.With one or two exceptions, the winners by a substantial margin are luxury brands. Their share of the market now approaches 9 per cent, up from 7.7 per cent last year, and it's reflected in some impressive numbers.The German luxury trio dominates but Australia bucks the trend by favouring Mercedes-Benz ahead of BMW and Audi.With its small car range - the A, B, CLA and GLA - flying out of showrooms, the three-pointed star is stretching its lead over BMW and rubs it in by selling more of its expensive performance variants as well.Its bestseller, the C-Class, has been available for only a few months but will finish the year as the third most popular mid-size car at any price - behind only the Toyota Camry and Mazda6.Audi's ambition is to overtake its German peers and become No 1 here, replicating its position in Europe and China. After slowing in 2012, its growth spurt has resumed and it's catching BMW on the strength of its award-winning A3 small car.Some of the second-tier luxury brands are powering ahead even faster. Thanks to its new-generation Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, demand for the British SUV specialist is up 22 per cent. It will finish as the fourth most popular luxury marque.Ironically, SUV demand is also powering Porsche. It cannot get enough of its second SUV, the Macan, and waiting times are stretching the patience of buyers. Without the Macan, Porsche was on track for a record. With it, sales are up almost 50 per cent. When Maserati adds an SUV, the Levante, in 2016 it can expect to get a comparable boost.Super-large, super-expensive SUVs are what the elite badges lack but they are all working on one. Even so, Maserati's push for volume is yielding results. The new-generation large sedans Ghibli and Quattroporte have almost tripled sales this year.Even among the luxury brands there are losers. Volvo lacks the deep pockets of the Germans and is struggling to keep its product pipeline full. Its dealers will doubtless breathe easier when the overdue replacement for its XC90 SUV arrives in the second quarter next year, with sales down 7 per cent in 2014.Lexus is another that has waited too long for fresh product and its NX mid-size SUV arrives too late to prevent it treading water.Among mainstream brands, losers are much easier to find than winners. Over-optimism and the pressure to grow meant many ended 2013 carrying too much stock, with Nissan the standout - but far from sole - example.The traditional solution to this problem, and one by no means limited to mainstream brands, is for the distributor and/or dealers to register cars themselves.It's a way of meeting sales targets but it simply saves up trouble, not the least of which is an excess of ageing 'demonstrator' models that sooner or later have to actually be sold. When they are, the sales have already been counted.Combine that with an assault on their traditional territory by the luxury brands and everyone from Toyota to Honda, Holden to Ford, has seen their numbers go south.But the biggest losers in 2014? Cheap Chinese brands, with Chery sales down 35 per cent and Great Wall almost 60 per cent.

The new car market may not be performing but sports cars are.The latest VFACTS figures show Australians are racing to performance vehicles in record numbers and are happy to spend more than $100,000 to drive their dream car.The $80,000-$200,000 sports car segment is up more than 20 per cent so far this year and dedicated sports vehicles overall account for about one in 20 new cars sold.That doesn’t include go-fast versions of regular models, an area where the Germans continue to dominate.The move isn’t limited to prestige European brands: HSV is on track to eclipse 3000 sales in 2014. HSV marking boss Damon Paul says there’s still strong momentum forthe Gen-F range.Range Rover Sport sales have doubled this year to 2200, while Jaguar sales are up 15 per cent.Iconic sports car maker Porsche has had 44 per cent growth, with 2224 vehicles.The German trio — Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz — are all posting records.Audi’s S and RS models are the fastest movers and are likely to rival HSV in terms of overall sales this year.More than 2400 buyers have chosen Audi performance models, against about 800 sales at the same time last year. That number should surge over the next couple of months with the introduction of the S1 Sportback, which at $49,900 is the cheapest quattro model in the four-ringed line-up.Benz has shifted more than 2200 of its AMG-badged cars and can likewise expect a surge in sales after last month’s GLA45 AMG compact SUV launch.It is a similar story at BMW, despite a gap between the run-out of its old M3 and the launch of the new M3 sedan and M4 coupe/convertible.BMW has sold 1142 M-badged cars to October’s end, a 75 per cent increase on 2013.

New Honda Jazz sets new benchmark for rear view cameras: $14,990.

QR codes -- the tiny scrambled square symbols that instantly link smartphone users to specific sites on the internet -- can now be used to save lives.Mercedes-Benz is going to start fitting QR codes to all cars sold in Australia since 1990 -- almost 300,000 vehicles -- to show emergency crews where to cut open the car's body structure after a serious crash.Rescue workers with a smartphone will be able to simply scan the QR code inside the door opening or behind the fuel-filler door to bring up an x-ray picture of the car, with instructions that pinpoint the best places to use the jaws of life.The first Mercedes-Benz with the "rescue card" QR code went on sale in Australia today, the $47,900 compact SUV called the GLA. But the company said it will soon offer the QR code stickers free of charge to owners of all Mercedes-Benz passenger cars sold since 1990."Over the coming months we will set up a program of how customers can collect the sticker for their cars," said Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman David McCarthy."We think it's an important initiative for road safety and we would encourage the rest of the industry to adopt it. The emergency services are already dealing with complex technology in vehicles and this is about the safe extraction of injured occupants."Mercedes-Benz said it will also start briefing emergency services around Australia about the technology. "Anything that can save time in a rescue situation can potentially save lives," said NSW Police Inspector Phil Brooks, the operations manager of the traffic and highway patrol command. "We look forward to reviewing this technology for the benefit of road safety."Mercedes-Benz introduced the QR code rescue stickers in Europe last December but other manufacturers are expected to follow.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowlingHow it works-- Rescue workers can use a smartphone to scan a QR code on a crashed car to bring up an x-ray view that pinpoints the best places to cut into the car's structure.-- There are two QR codes: one behind the fuel filler door (in case the doors won't open) and one on the opposite side of the car inside the front door opening.-- All new Mercedes-Benz cars sold from now will come with QR codes and in the coming months the company will offer the stickers free of charge to owners of all Mercedes-Benz cars since 1990. 

Mercedes-Benz has revealed the smallest of its high-performance AMG-tweaked SUVs, the GLA45 AMG ahead of its global unveiling next week at Detroit motor show to be pitched into head-to-head battle with the Porsche Macan and Audi RSQ3.The GLA45 is based on the GLA-Class crossover, but the boffins at Merc's AMG tuning division have crawled all over the vehicle, starting with slinging it lower on stiffer suspension -- firmer front knuckles and springs and all-new rear four-link setup -- and an optional even harder one if that's your fancy.Looking more like a beefier brother to the A45 AMG hardcore hatchback, the aggressive-looking baby SUV gets an aerodynamic body kit with a front splitter, side sills and rear roof spoiler, and you can arm it further with optional carbon-fibre additions to the bodykit and side mirrors -- plus AMG-badged red brake calipers.The cabin gets sports seats with leather or Alcantara options, Nappa leather steering wheel with F1-style shift paddles and splashes of aluminium and stainless-steel accents -- which can be dressed with more carbon-fibre and high-performance seats.The GLA45 AMG carries the A45 and CLA45 AMG's handbuilt 2.0-litre with twin-scroll turbocharger and forged pistons -- as Merc points out, the most powerful four-cylinder in production -- developing 265kW of power and 450Nm of torque, and delivering a 0-100km/h time of 4.8 seconds and an electronically-limited top speed of 250km/h. The seven-speed dual-clutch transmission delivers the drive entirely to the front wheels in normal conditions, and to all four wheels when needed, splitting it 50:50.The electronic stability program is switchable to a Sport mode, or completely off, and includes a torque-vectoring system that applies tiny amounts of braking on the rear inside wheel in corners to aid handling. The wheels are 19-inch alloys finished in titanium grey, but these can be optioned up to matte black 20-inchers, with ventilated disks for either choice.The GLA45 AMG will go on sales in overseas markets in the second half of this year, but a launch has not yet been confirmed for Australia. However with the luxury brand clearly keeping an eye on the growing segment, we're hoping a business case will be easy."The response to the Concept GLA 45 AMG during the world première at the Los Angeles International Auto Show has reaffirmed our decision to launch this new AMG model. Currently there is no segment growing faster than that of compact SUVs," Tobias Moers, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes, says in the press statement   

Mercedes-Benz performance arm AMG has revealed photos and details at Los Angeles motor show of the new GLA45 AMG concept we got glimpses of yesterday in a teaser video.

As many as eight SUVs will crowd into Mercedes-Benz showrooms in Australia within five years as the German brand expands its family-friendly lineup. The most important of Benz's new babies is the all-new GLA, but it is expected to be followed by a tiddler, a crossover coupe based on the ML and a youthful newcomer built from last year's Ener-G-Force concept. The mid-sized GLK, which has been a glaring Australian omission in recent years in a class dominated by the Audi Q3 and BMW X3, is already confirmed below the existing ML, GL and G-Class. It is coming in 2015 as the second-generation GLK is finally built with right-hand drive. But it's the GLA which will make the biggest impact next year, as Benz's five-model compact drive nears its conclusion. The GLA is one of four models now confirmed - after the A-Class and B-Class that are on sale, as well as the CLA coupe - with one still secret.It's most-obvious rival is the Range Rover Evoque, a design-driven success that's been a sellout around the world. The GLA is coming in the second quarter of 2014 and company spokesman, David McCarthy, says it will do a similar re-set job in the SUV class to the A-Class that has drawn buyers from a range of cheaper rivals including the Volkswagen Golf. "The obvious competitors are amongst our German colleagues. But where it will be positioned on price, there will be a lot of people who lift their expectation from something like a Subaru," he says, without actually revealing the price. McCarthy says the GLA is the most important of the compact newcomers, even though the A and B-Class have been selling strongly. "We're excited about it. The compact SUV category is very strong. And we want to play there. "It's also an important stepping stone to the GLK, the ML, and further up the SUV range." And he cannot resist a swipe at the GLA's likely rivals. "Dare I say, it's the stylish utility vehicle," he says tongue-in-cheek. "It looks great and it's something very new for us. But we're going to have problems with supply." As details of the GLA become public, McCarthy confirms a commitment to AMG performance models - the A45 is already up and running in Australia - for everything short of the B. "There will be AMG versions of all of them, except for the B Class. This year we will potentially do 1500 AMGs in total," he says. Mercedes is forecasting more than 1000 baby-car sales this year, as the brand looks to beat BMW in the showroom stakes. "People joke about this, but our goal is to sell every single car that we put our name against for a profit. We don't believe it moving forwards by looking backwards," says McCarthy. This report is on Twitter: @paulwardgover  

As many as eight SUVs will crowd into Mercedes-Benz showrooms in Australia within five years as the German brand expands its family-friendly lineup. Watch the video here