Page 8 – Christian Stampfer – The Green Car Driver –

Christian Stampfer reports live from Munich With great fanfare, BMW introduced the sixth generation 3 Series at the BMW plant in Munich with a white 320d EfficientDynamics Edition sedan leading the way.

In quick succession, driven by apprentices at the BMW plant and paraded past thousands of cheering BMW employees, we saw …

The reinvention of a legend is one of the hardest challenges an automotive designer can face. In 2015, Land Rover will reveal the successor to the current Defender and the automaker is testing the waters. At the 64th IAA (International Automobile Show) in Frankfurt, Land Rover unveiled two concept cars …

Mercedes-Benz, the inventor of the automobile, celebrates its 125 birthday this year. Under the motto “Mercedes-Next,” the automaker presented six world premieres at the Frankfurt Internationale Automobile Ausstellung (International Automobile Show). The new cars include the recently announced SLK 250 CDI , the completely new B-Class, and two concept cars, …

The Frankfurt Internationale Automobile Austellung (International Automobile Show) is so important to BMW that the company built its own exhibit hall last year, complete with a track built into the permanent stage. BMW, Mini ,and Rolls Royce traditionally unveils their new car concepts in Frankfurt and the 64th IAA was …

Maastricht, the capital of the province Limburg, is located in the southern part of the Netherlands. It was also our first destination after taking delivery of The Diesel Driver’s new long-term test car, a Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec diesel sedan.
TDD Editor Jonathan Spira and I started out from the Mercedes-Benz Kundencenter …

Starting in September, Mercedes-Benz will offer its sporty SLK Roadster with a diesel engine, the automaker’s first such offering.  The SLK Roadster has been on the market since 1996 and currently has three petrol variants, the SLK 200, SLK 250 and SLK 350.
The new SLK 250 CDI comes standard with …

Starting in autumn 2011, the BMW X3 model range will be expanded with two new engines, one petrol and one diesel. European customers will then have a choice between three petrol and three diesel engines.
The new BMW X3 xDrive20i will become the entry model of the X3 lineup and features …

Diesel fans got a reason to celebrate recently with the unveiling of the newest BMW EfficientDynamics Edition model, the X1 sDrive20d EDE.  The new diesel will be available for European customers in autumn 2011.
The X1 sDrive20d EfficientDynamics Edition is the third model within the EfficientDynamics Edition model sub-range. BMW currently …

Sélestat, also known as the city of Schlettstadt, is a small town located in north-eastern France, in the province of Alsace-Lorraine (Elsaß-Lothringen). The cities of Freiburg (Germany) and Strasbourg (France) are only a drive of 40 km (24.8 miles) away.
Sélestat is home to nearly 20.000 inhabitants and offers its …

Frankfurt am Main, Europe’s largest and most important financial center, is situated along the Main River in the south-western part of the German state Hessen (Hesse). Germany’s fifth largest city is home to over 672.000 people and was named one of the 10 most liveable cities in the world by …

The European Union plans to increase the current tax level for diesel fuel till the year 2023.  Algirdas Semeta, the European Commissar for Taxes, presented a master plan for a new tax system which is strongly connected to the energy content of the fuel.
The existing minimum tax rate in the …

On the first of the year, Germany introduced Super E10 biofuel, which is gasoline that is 10% ethanol. Even before the first tank was filled, the matter was the subject of great debate.  The new fuel uses twice as much ethanol as the old Super E5 biofuel and the …