Germany-based multinational sporting equipment company Adidas has chosen the Mercedes-Benz Travego Edition 1 Euro IV flagship coach to be its go-to vehicle for VIP transport, shuttle service, and staff events. Mercedes-Benz Bus and Coach unit head Horst Hartmann personally turned over a unit to Matthias Malessa, Adidas Head of Human Resources, and Hans-Peter Klein-Schell, the VP for Corporate Facilities and Services EMEA & Key Projects.
The Travego Edition 1, which was previously awarded by Germany’s Busplaner bus magazine with its Innovation Prize 2012, was chosen for the Euro IV compliant engine, which makes it a very environmentally friendly coach. After all, it’s backstopped by BlueEfficiency Power technology. In addition, there’s a Mercedes-Benz 8-speed GO PowerShift transmission specially designed for buses for the most delicate of maneuvers. A wear-free and maintenance-free clutch also adds for more versatility.
All those are on top of other amenities , like 48 Luxline-upholstered passenger seats, a pair of club tables at the bus’s rear, and a trio of LCD monitors.
The German football team also uses a Travego Edition 1.
Caught testing are these shots of Mercedes' upcoming GLA45 AMG crossover. Based on the X156 platform on which other new Mercedes models are based, the GLA45AMG basically has the same powertrain combination that will underpin the A45, B45 and CLA45 AMG models.
What this means to the dear consumer is a vehicle that has all wheel drive, a 7-speed DCT and the type M133 turbo four grunting out 350-plus horsepower. While the more pedestrian GLA is a direct competitor to BMW's X1, the GLA45 has no production competitor, for now. It would be nice to see how it would fare against the Nissan Juke-R, the one-off based on the GT-R drivetrain.
Right now, the test mule is decidedly ugly, but you can see how the final product will possibly look. From a production standpoint, reclothing an AMG platform to wear different body styles is more efficient. And Mercedes is undoubtedly aware of buying trends toward smaller cars. But with 4 variants based on this powertrain, is there a big enough enthusiast base to justify this many AMG models?
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