First prize in Sunday newspapers automotive competition: Mercedes-Benz CL-Class wins Golden Steering Wheel Award 2006
The Golden Steering Wheel 2006, presented by the German Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag, and one of the most coveted automotive honours in Europe, has been won by the new CL-Class. Almost a third of all readers of Germanys largest-circulation Sunday paper voted for the CL-Class as the best new arrival in the coupe category, putting it in first place by a clear margin. The award was presented last night in Berlin to Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of DaimlerChrysler AG and Head of the Mercedes Car Group.
The new Mercedes-Benz CL-Class came onto the market this autumn, and the award of the Golden Steering Wheel marks the culmination of a tradition of extraordinary Mercedes-Benz coupes that dates back more than 50 years. Just like its predecessors, the new CL-Class is the embodiment of automotive elegance and exclusiveness, combining as it does exceptional design and equipment levels with superior comfort, exemplary safety and pioneering technology, in a manner unrivalled by any other automotive manufacturer in the world. This leading-edge coupe is fitted as standard with the new PRE-SAFE Brake, for example, which anticipates an impending collision and takes automatic action to brake the vehicle. Its comprehensive standard equipment package also includes further Mercedes innovations such as the ABC (Active Body Control) active suspension system, the Intelligent Light System and PRE-SAFE anticipatory occupant protection.
Its range of powerful engines ensure that the new luxury coupe, described by Bild am Sonntag as a Titan among coupes, is as much at home on country roads as on the motorway. The CL 500s eight-cylinder engine produces 285 kW/388 hp, while the sophisticated 12-cylinder biturbo under the bonnet of the new CL 600 develops 380 kW/517 hp to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.6 seconds.
With 16 awards to its credit, Mercedes-Benz is one of the most successful automo-tive brands to compete for the Golden Steering Wheel award since its inception by Bild am Sonntag in 1976. The new CL-Class follows hot on the heels of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which was awarded the Golden Steering Wheel last year as the best new arrival in the luxury class.
