Paris to Beijing in an E-Class

Six years after the original Smart City-Coupe was launched (later renamed the fortwo), the subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz launches a new 2nd generation model. Almost 20cm longer than the 600cc original, the new 2-seater fortwo gets a 1.0-litre engine mated to a 5-speed semi-automatic transmission. More spacious than before, the new Smart has been designed to comply with US crash test regulations, and there are grand plans to launch the brand there. All the Smart innovations such as its tridion structure, changeable polycarbonate panels, and rear engines remain, but the cabin loses its S-shaped wave, and becomes more conventional – the driver and passenger sit next to each other instead of the driver slightly ahead of the passenger. They also remain very economical, making use of just 5 litres to cover 100km. There will also be a more economical version in which the engine stops at traffic lights, and starts up again automatically when the accelerator is pressed. The new fortwo has been designed to be converted to run on natural gas or to be fully electric if the demand for these alternatives increases. With greater production numbers (and hopefully better pricing because of greater economies of scale), and a more buzz around about the brand from the US, there is still hope that this innovative car may make it to Singapore. In Singapore, the two Smarts should be allowed to share a single COE since the footprint of the car is half that of a normal car. When DaimlerChrysler brought in several Smart Fortwos for market research, two smarts could actually park in a single parking space. Catch some of the funky videos of this brand at : http://www.smartusa.com/index.html

Imagine a car that knows when an accident is going to take place, and starts braking all by itself! Well, the new Mercedes-Benz CL comes with an upgraded version of PRE-SAFE, an intelligent system of sensors that ‘prepares’ the car for a collision. PRE-SAFE was available in the previous S-Class, and the sensors in the ESP and ABS systems can detect when the tyres are going to lose traction, and determine if a potential crash is inevitable. Within a split second, the seats will be moved to a safe position, the seatbelts will tighten and if they are open, the sunroof and windows will be closed. On the latest CL coupe however, PRE-SAFE is wired to the car’s Distronic Plus cruise control and the car’s braking system, and will sound an audio and visual alert before actually activating the brakes to slow the car down. Distronic Plus makes use of two radar sensors within the CL’s bumper - one detects objects 150m ahead, a the other 30m in front of the car. PRE-SAFE will slow a CL down at a rate of 0.4g (or 4m/s2) making use of 40 percent of the car’s braking force. This will hopefully get the driver to start braking, and thus avert an accident. Even if the driver does not start to brake himself, the car has already taken steps to reduce speed and thus reduce the force of the impact. Mercedes-Benz claims to have tested PRE-SAFE on 70 drivers in Berlin who were purposely distracted, and claim a 40 percent reduction in the severity if an accident takes place. The next step is to get the car that will come to complete top before impact. Check out PRE-SAFE at: http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/dccom/0-5-7180-1-458404-1-0-0-0-0-0-8668-7165-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html

This season in Singapore has seen no shortage of large-scale events and world-reknown names. With the Barclays Singapore Open, a US$3 million dollar affair, held in Sentosa, IMF and World Bank's meeting next week, one might have missed out the highly-acclaimed name in the corporate world, Forbes, which has also just held their Annual Global CEO Conference here.