Mercedes S-Class AMG Sport Edition – it’s another S-Class run-out special

The Mercedes S-Class AMG Sport Edition is another ‘final’ S Class model with extra equipment as the W221 comes to the end of its shelf life. The current Mercedes S-Class (W221) has been with us since 2006, despite which it’s still a fine car (and a great secondhand buy), but it’s about to be replaced by an all new S-Class. That’s why S-Class sales are falling and why Mercedes has rolled out the S-Class Grand Edition and CL Grand Edition to persuade buyers that a new S-Class (or S-Class coupe, in the case of the CL) is still a good place to park a sizeable chunk of change.

Crunch watch October 09: the auto industry in crisis

Tuesday 20 October 2009• Honda's CEO said he would consider launching electric vehicles for sale in Europe, Japan and the USA in a possible change of strategy for the Japanese car manufacturer (Automotive News, subscription required)• Ford 59-plate car sales up by 22% in September ‘09 compared to the same month last year. Ford claims a 14.8% share of total new car sales for the same period (Ford)• Porsche, VW and Daimler all sent top executives to the Shanghai motor show in April, but chose to snub the Tokyo motor show this week. The news comes as China’s automotive market is set to become the world’s largest (Bloomberg)• Toyota enters the Korean car market, challenging the 72% market share owned by Hyundai Motor Co (Bloomberg)  Monday 19 October 2009 • The organisers of the Geneva motor show claim that 'all of the major manufacturers have already confirmed their participation' for the March 2010 event (Geneva Palexpo)• Jaguar is auctioning off the first XJ off the line to raise £1m for the NSPCC children's charity.

Big fall in insurance premiums

DRIVERS are set to be quoted happy after it was revealed that insurance premiums have fallen by more than 14% over the last year. The typical quote for annual comprehensive car insurance cover was £533 in January, which was also a record 4.6% slide on the previous quarter, according to the latest AA Insurance premium index, which takes the average of the five cheapest quotes on the market. The AA British Insurance Premium Index, which has been running for 20 years, found that the North West remains the most costly region to insure a car, with the average premium for someone who shops around standing at £809, although this region also saw the biggest price drop over the past quarter at 6.3%.