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Multiple winner in the Automotive Brand Contest: New S-Class is "Best of Best"

The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class has taken no less than two first places in the 2013 Automotive Brand Contest: Both the exterior and the interior design received the "Best of Best" award. In addition the jury consisting of world-leading design experts voted the Burmester® high-end 3D surround sound system a "winner" amongst others. The Automotive Brand Contest is organised by the well-known "Rat für Formgebung" (Design Council). The awards will be presented at the Automotive Designers Night which will take place on the first press day at the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt.

With the title "Best of Best" in the exterior design category, the S-Class occupies the peak position. With its classic architecture and flowing silhouette, it embodies sensuous clarity in a modern interpretation. Its design builds a bridge between today's progressive design idiom and the classic elegance of the Mercedes-Benz cars from the 1930s. Stylish sportiness and sensuous shapes synthesised with timeless clarity as well as poise and assurance make the S-Class a design icon.

The new S-Class likewise takes first place in the interior design category, and is the "Best of Best". With its clear architecture, the interior design of the S-Class embodies a classic, superior, cutting-edge saloon. The interior's expressive character derives from a uniquely fluid, sensuously elegant style. Horizontal elements and lines create a setting characterised by visual breadth and calm solidity.

The Burmester® high-end 3D surround sound system was also voted a "winner". It provides the most exquisite listening enjoyment with sound settings that are optimised for every occupant and, for the first time in a luxury saloon, three-dimensional surround sound as standard. This 3D surround sound is created with the help of special Burmester algorithms and three speakers integrated into the headlining. A combination of analogue and digital technologies produces an exceptionally expressive and natural sound – the Burmester "feel-good sound".

Renowned design competition: the Automotive Brand Contest

The 2013 Automotive Brand Contest is organised by the well-known "Rat für Formgebung" (Design Council) for the third time. The awards go to outstanding product and communication design, which the jury assesses in 14 different categories and four special categories.

In 2013 the "Rat für Formgebung" is celebrating its 60th birthday. In spring 1953 the Federal Association for German Industry (BDI) and a number of leading German companies founded the trust on the instigation of the federal German parliament. At present more than 180 design-oriented German companies with more than 1.8 million employees are members of the "Rat für Formgebung".

Credits: Daimler AG

Copyright © 2013, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Detail: Multiple winner in the Automotive Brand Contest: New S-Class is "Best of Best"

Mille Miglia 2013: Mercedes-Benz as main automotive sponsor

Mercedes-Benz is the main automotive sponsor of Mille Miglia. The corresponding agreement was reached between Mercedes-Benz Classic and 1000 Miglia S.R.L. in Brescia (Italy), with the aim of establishing a long-term collaboration. Mercedes-Benz Classic will be represented at this year’s event with a number of vehicles, as well as five famous faces taking up their position at the starting line.

Marcel Tiemann will also be representing Mercedes-Benz Classic as a brand ambassador at this year’s Mille Miglia, alongside former Formula 1 racing drivers David Coulthard, Jochen Mass and Karl Wendlinger, as well as Bernd Mayländer, the current driver of the Official F1™ Safety Car.

Mercedes-Benz and Mille Miglia are inextricably linked. One of the major triumphs celebrated by the brand at what is probably the most famous thousand-mile race was the legendary victory by Rudolf Caracciola in April 1931 as the first non-Italian driver, together with his co-driver Wilhelm Sebastian in an SSKL racing car. The second major success from Mercedes-Benz involved the 300 SLR (W 196 S). In 1955, Stirling Moss and his co-driver Denis Jenkinson won the Mille Miglia with the vehicle sporting the starting number 722. Travelling at an average speed of 157.65 km/h, they completed the course in the fastest ever time of ten hours, seven minutes and 48 seconds. Juan Manuel Fangio with starting number 658 took second place, completing the race solo.

Today, the Mille Miglia is promoted as a test of endurance, stretching from the northern Italian town of Brescia to Rome and back. Along the thousand-mile course (around 1600 kilometres), a number of challenges await the participants and their classic cars. The rules state that only vehicle models which were part of the original race line-up (1927 to 1957) are permitted to take part. Mercedes-Benz Classic reports on the Mille Miglia on a daily basis both on its own website (www.mercedes-benz-classic.com) and on Facebook. Every day, around six hours after the end of the stage, an up-to-date summary of the day will be published. This allows followers around the world to keep an eye on the proceedings and also experience the flair of the Mille Miglia for themselves.

Taking place at the same time as this year’s Mille Miglia, there will be an exhibition of the Daimler Art Collection from 7 March to 30 June at the Museo di Santa Giulia in Brescia, entitled “Novecento mai visto: From Albers to Warhol to (now)”. Taking centre stage at this event are more than 230 works from around 110 international artists. This exhibition will also be accompanied by a special show in Museo Mille Miglia. Here, three exquisite original vehicles from the Mercedes-Benz Classic collection will be exhibited together with corresponding Warhol motifs.

Another brand ambassador takes up position

Marcel Tiemann
Born: 19 March 1974 in Hamburg

In comparison to other racing drivers, Marcel Tiemann from Hamburg turned to motorsport at a late stage but still managed to quickly work his way to the top following his early successes. In 1997, Mercedes-Benz signed up the promising young driver for the FIA GT championship as the driver of the AMG-Mercedes CLK-GTR. Tiemann finished his first season in fourth place of the driver rankings, scoring the same amount of points as Alessandro Nannini. In 1998, he again started the FIA GT championship season for Mercedes-Benz. When the German Touring Car Masters (DTM) returned in the year 2000, Tiemann was one of the drivers of the Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM. From 2001 onwards, he was active with a number of racing teams. His five victories at the 24-hour Nürburgring races are legendary: in 2003 for Opel and then from 2006 through 2009 four times in succession for Porsche. In May 2010 and through no fault of his own, Tiemann was involved in an accident in his Audi at the GT Open in Imola, after which he had to end his racing career. He is amongst the most successful long-distance drivers of his time: at least every third race in which he drove in his early career, Tiemann could be seen on the podium and in two-thirds of his races, he was amongst the top five drivers. Since 2012, Marcel Tiemann works as a brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz Classic.