Mercedes-Benz SLK350 2012 News

If auto engineers had their way then every car would have its bonnet welded shut at the end of the production line. They don't want us to meddle. In fact, Mercedes-Benz once built a concept sports car - it was called the Vision SLA and nicknamed the ‘sneaker’ - that didn't have a bonnet.It eventually morphed into the cute little SLK roadster but grew a bonnet before it went into production. It was probably for the mechanics - or technicians, as most carmakers prefer to call them in 2012. After all, when did you last open the bonnet on your car? “The day I took delivery. I wanted to see the engine. That was enough,” laughs one Carsguide mate.But think about it. There are lots of very complicated and costly bits and pieces under the bonnet, yet we mostly ignore them unless there is a red warning light or some sort of nasty noise. We're spoiled. And rotten. In recent years I've heard plenty of stories about people who have ignored the early warning signs and been hit by a nasty repair bill.One was a leaky radiator that meant an engine replacement and another was an oil leak that turned into a fire that burned the car to the road. They are extreme cases, but every day there are people who fail to recognise the early signs of a bad battery or an oil leak or a fan belt on the way out. And don't get me started on flat tyres.I blame it on the death of the old-style service station. These days, most of us get our fuel from a donut shop that has some pumps out the front. There is no-one to check the tyres, clean the windows or lift the bonnet for a quick dip of the oil and a check on the battery leads.I remember this ritual very well, since my first after-school job was pumping petrol at Bruno Rossi's Caltex station. There were good tips if you got the windows squeaky clean and added some water to the radiator.Now I admit that I've become lazy and spoiled by cars that typically run from 10-15,000 kilometres between service calls - instead of demanding a survival pack with spare oil, fuses, belts and a toolkit in the boot. “Some people think that servicing a car is putting petrol into it,” says another of my mates, Jerry. But it's not, and totally ignoring a car for 10,000 kilometres is just asking for trouble. Even the engineers have recognised that cars need a bit of TLC, which is why all the important bits - like the dipstick for the engine oil - now have bright yellow tabs to make them easier to find in the engine room. So, why not lift the bonnet sometime. You might get a surprise, one way or another. 

Kids aren’t usually a factor in Car of the Year judging.  But child friendliness rates highly with women buying cars – and with women judging cars.The countdown has been kicked off to decide the Women’s World Car of the Year, and the kid factor is one the judges pay a lot of attention to.“Statistics show that women drive children in cars significantly more often than men – and that means women need to take that into account, both when buying and as judges of cars,” WCOTY president Sandy Myhre said from New Zealand.“Any woman who has grappled constantly with child seats and belts and children considers those things when looking at buying a car.  Men might too but the fact is, women drive children in cars more than men.“Women would not consider that aspect in a Porsche 911 more than a bloke. The point is, it can be considered in these awards - and that is one of the points of difference in these awards.”Myhre points out that significant research into buying habits show that in addition to buying for themselves, women have a major influence in household purchase decisions for big ticket items.Ford Australia, for example, says their research shows that women are behind the majority of purchases of the Territory SUV – either as single women buying one, or in influencing the joint decision with their partner. “A report from Mattingly & Associates in Australia concluded, in part, that businesses that didn't understand this influence would be hard-pressed to stay in business.  That report was aptly called 'When I've Made Up Our Minds',” Myhre says.However, the kid factor is just one of the criteria by which the 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year will be judged.There are four categories in the Women's World Car of the Year – Family Car, Luxury Car, Sports Car and Economy Car. Points are allocated to each of ten criteria: driveability, engineering, comfort, child friendliness, style, interior, storage, dashboard efficiency, carbon footprint and colour range.The 20 judges from eleven countries have submitted their own personal short list and more than 300 cars were suggested. These individual choices were then whittled down to form a master list of 32 in terms of popularity. Judges will now allocate points for these cars from a criteria list.The announcement of the winning cars in each category and the supreme winner will be made before the end of March. The supreme award trophy and category certificates will be presented to the car companies concerned at the Mondial de l’Automobile 2012 – the Paris Motor Show – in September. The supreme trophy will this year be made in The Netherlands. Category-winner certificates will be designed at Peartree Studios in Colerne, UK.The first winner of the Women's World Car of the Year was the Jaguar XF in 2010 and the trophy made in South Africa was presented at the Jaguar boutique showroom in Knightsbridge, London. In 2011 there was a dead-heat between the Citroen DS3 and the BMW 5 Series. The two trophies made in India were presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2011.