Mercedes was set to sell version of Nissan Titan, now Infiniti might instead [UPDATE]

Mercedes-Benz Titan. Mercedes-Benz Frontier. Mercedes-Benz pickup truck. None of these things roll off the tongue particularly well. We'd like to think that's the reason Daimler opted to kill the idea of rebadged Titan and Frontier pickups from corporate ally Nissan. In reality, the execution before the Frankfurt Motor Show was due to more complicated issues.

Yes, Mercedes, byword for German luxury, style and quality, would have slapped a three-pointed star on a pair of Japanese pickup trucks that have failed to resonate with consumers in the world's largest truck market. That slapping of badges isn't much of an exaggeration, at least on the outside. According to the report from Road & Track, the truck's front clip would have been tweaked, but beyond that, the sheetmetal would have been unchanged. The interior would have received a more thorough going-over by the team at Mercedes, while the suspension and noise, vibration and harshness tuning would have also received significant attention.

The trucks would have ended up being sold through the light-commercial branch of Mercedes-Benz - the same folks that will happily sell you a Sprinter van - had the deal gone through. Issues arose, though, first with the engines. Mercedes wanted a wider range of powertrains to allow it to tune models for specific markets, while Nissan said it couldn't engineer the wide variety of engines that MB wanted to drop under the hood. For the smaller truck, meanwhile, MB was interested in a hybrid or plug-in variant, according to R&T, although this was also shot down by Nissan.

Interestingly, the report claims the decision by Mercedes has essentially given the green light to Infiniti, Nissan's premium brand, to engineer a higher-end pickup. No word on if the Infiniti-badged Titan will arrive before or after the next-generation truck debuts, but we'd have to assume the latter.

Mercedes, meanwhile, may not have totally abandoned its truck plans. An unnamed source within Infiniti told the buff book, "We know about their pickup, but as long as they price it more enthusiastically than ours, we don't think it will impact our plans."

Update: Infiniti has issued an official denial of any plans for a pickup truck, with spokesman Kyle Bazemore writing, "Reports that Infiniti might offer a full-size truck based on the next-generation Nissan Titan are wrong. Infiniti has no such plans."

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2017 Aston Martin Lagonda could live on Mercedes M-Class platform

 

A few weeks ago, we brought you news from the launch of the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante that the British brand, which is formally known as Aston Martin Lagonda, was still planning on going ahead with a Lagonda-badged crossover. Now comes word that that vehicle could very well be based on a Mercedes-Benz M-Class.

When the first Lagonda Concept debuted at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, it sat on a Mercedes-Benz GL-Class platform, some four years before Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG deal was inked. And with that partnership, which will see Aston Martin gain access to AMG electrics and "bespoke, V8 powertrains," the opportunities for platform sharing are many.

Dr. Ulrich Bez, the boss of Aston Martin, told the UK's AutoCar, "I look at what Porsche is doing with the 911 as its core business and then it is able to do models like the Cayenne based on the Volkswagen Touareg. It is good business." We've said many times that we'll tolerate exotic CUVs and SUVs if it means keeping the beloved core models alive, which has been the case with Porsche. We see no reason Aston Martin wouldn't be able to do the same.

The Lagonda, which is getting a full rework following a critically poor reception when it debuted in Geneva, will likely arrive in 2017, meaning that there are a lot of details to work out, not least of which is where it will be built. The only two factories that build the M-Class currently are in Tuscaloosa, AL and Pune, Maharashtra, India.

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‘Tyregate’: Mercedes, Pirelli get wrist-slaps

LONDON — Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were given the all-clear for next week’s British Grand Prix after their Mercedes Formula 1 team escaped heavy sanctions yesterday for a ‘secret’ tyre test with Pirelli.

An international tribunal reprimanded Mercedes and Pirelli for breaking the rules on testing and ordered the British-based team to miss a three-day young driver test scheduled for Silverstone in July.

The verdict, announced by the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) in a statement after a seven-hour hearing in Paris on Thursday, will come as a relief for the team led by F1 veteran Ross Brawn.

The tribunal had the power to impose a heavy fine, dock points or even ban Mercedes from the world championship — although that was never a likely option for one of the sport’s major players.

Champions Red Bull, who had protested to the FIA at last month’s Monaco Grand Prix when they found out Mercedes had used their current car in the test, had indicated they wanted to see a tough response.

The tribunal ruled in its detailed written verdict that Mercedes had not intended to obtain any unfair sporting advantage by taking part in a tyre test at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya after the Spanish Grand Prix.

Teams are banned from testing during the season but Pirelli, who are sole tyre suppliers and not competitors, are allowed to do so with a representative car.

“Neither Pirelli nor Mercedes acted in bad faith at any material time,” the tribunal said, declaring that both parties had disclosed to the federation “at least the essence” of what they intended to do and had also sought permission.

“Mercedes had no reason to believe that approval had not been given,” it said, finding that FIA technical head Charlie Whiting had acted in good faith after taking advice from the FIA’s own legal department.

Despite that, Mercedes were found to have acted in breach of the rules, with the tribunal saying they did gain some material advantage as a result of their test with both 2008 champion Hamilton and subsequent Monaco winner Rosberg on track.

Mercedes, Pirelli and the FIA were ordered to pay a third each of the costs of the investigation and procedure, with the FIA paying all their own legal costs.

The young driver test ban was suggested by Mercedes themselves as a possible means of redress if the tribunal felt a sanction needed to be imposed.

The FIA said in a separate statement that it hoped lessons would be learnt from a case that was the first to be sent to the tribunal, which was set up in 2010 to deal with issues that race stewards were unable to rule on. REUTERS

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