NAIAS Blog: Mercedes-Benz, Smart, and "Sex Appeal"

After a quick photo opportunity with his ol' buddy Tom LaSorda at the Ram reveal, Dieter Zetsche hopped a ride into COBO in the passenger seat of a new Smart Fortwo, which arrives at the U.S. dealer network for deliveries next week. You read that right--it's too late for them to back out yet again.

The attention shifted quickly away from Smart to Mercedes-Benz, with the refreshed SLK convertible kicking off the festivities. Not much is new there--just some bumpers and a small power boost for the SLK350, which now boasts 300 hp. The face-lifted SL, which some speculated would make an appearance, will save its debut for a later show.

Before rolling out the GLK Freeside that broke cover in December, Mercedes surprised us with a heretofore unknown second GLK, the "Townside." To differentiate itself from the Freeside, the Townside concept rides lower to the ground on massive wheels and is powered by a new 2.2-liter Bluetec diesel. Like Vision Bluetec concepts before it, it wears what we're going to call Bluetec Gray paint. Before the car rolled onto the stage, Zetsche gave a uncharacteristic and lighthearted shout out to BMW and its efforts to bring diesels stateside.

The conference took a turn down Awkward Street from there when the wall of LEDs turned to images of shopping bags and the Sex and the City theme song blasted through the otherwise male-dominated COBO Hall. Dieter showed off some spy photos (were they internal all along?) from the set of the movie based out favorite chocolates-and-pajamas TV show and the GLK Freeside stopped at center stage where cougar Kim Cattrall popped out of the passenger side to join Dieter, telling us all that she loves being around "lots of men and their toys." The mustachioed German flirting that followed was a sight we're trying our damnest to forget. But if you want to see a few still shots for yourself, click through the headline above. Just remember, you've been warned.