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Finally, Friday!
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1. German car industry is having serious troubles: Regional Economics

The German car industry is fighting with significant challenges related to its production locations. Rising energy costs, high labor expenses, and increased regulatory pressures are making Germany a less attractive manufacturing hub. Germany already isn’t known to be the most attractive country for companies: See taxes and bureaucracy. Therefore, many automakers are considering shifting production to countries with more favorable economic conditions, threatening Germany's position as a leading automotive producer. This situation has sparked concerns about the long-term viability of the industry within the country.

"Some plants can only be maintained here because money is made at locations abroad. We have a serious location problem," Hildegard Müller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), told the newspaper "Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung" on last Saturday. Jobs in Germany can only be maintained if energy becomes cheaper, raw materials are secured and bureaucracy is reduced.

Source: https://aussiedlerbote.de/en/german-car-industry-faces-serious-location-problem/

2. The 2025 BMW 2 Series GranCoupe got leaked: Thoughts?

3. The highly anticipated Maybach-SL just got leaked as well. What do we think?

Not many information yet on this model. It’ll very pricy, we assume even more expensive than the current SL63 AMG. The official release will be on August 18th, in Pebble Beach, California.

4. First Porsche 992.2 Models are getting delivered!

5. Mercedes is secretly working on a Tesla Model Y rival.

Mercedes is set to grow its EV lineup with the introduction of a fully electric “CLA crossover”, targeting the Tesla Model Y market - aiming for a similar size car.

Essentially a little bit larger than the current EQA, closer to the EQC. Why? The EQC got discontinued (without anyone noticing) and the Model Y is selling like hot cakes - Mercedes wants that too… New place for a new SUV.

Scheduled for release in the first half of 2026. Production is planned to begin in October 2025 at the Rastatt facility in Germany. Notably, it will offer a range of up to 750 kilometers on a single charge and feature rapid charging capabilities. Mercedes is positioning it as a leader in efficiency and convenience. No quality images whatsoever on exterior design. Once the Model Y rival is presented, the current EQB will most likely be discontinued.

6. It’s pretty much official now. There will ONLY be a pure combustion engine 4.0L V8 CLE63 AMG - no 4 Cylinder hybrid “63 E” Variant.

There wont be any CLE63 E-Performance. Only 4.0 V8, combustion engine. I was honestly shocked AMG entirely cancelling the CLE63 E since the production, test drives etc was QUITE in a advanced stage!

We have to remember, even if there was a “63 E Performance” variant, there wouldn’t be a plug-in V8 with over 800 PS output. It’d still have the same configuration as the current not very well respected C63E - 4 Cylinder plug-in hybrid. Therefore, no big loss for petrol heads.

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Thanks! See you next week. :)