Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Like his father, Kim Jong-un (above, right) prefers trains for long distance travel wherever possible. For last week's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kim took one of his armoured trains to Vladivostok. There, he jumped into his waiting previous-generation Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman Guard. He and his entourage have been photographed in other Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles during his trips to Hanoi, Singapore and the Korean DMZ.

German manufacturer Mercedes-Benz says it will continue down an evolutionary path with its current design language, rather then starting afresh when it unveils the next step in its current ‘Sensual Purity’ design language with the next-generation S-Class.

Mercedes Benz says it plans to show a safety vision concept later this year that will demonstrate the future safety technologies from the German manufacturer. It will mark ten years since the last ESF vision concept debuted in 2009 and will see Mercedes-Benz showcase technologies that are both currently viable and also ones which may still be some time away.

The BMW 8 Series has just been revealed in two-door coupe form, but it appears there's a four-door Gran Coupe coming soon – going by a new set of patent renderings published in overseas media this week. A three-strong set of images was posted by website Motor1.com, said to be from the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property, depicting three versions of the new 8 Series: the coupe, a convertible, and four-door Gran Coupe.

Mercedes-Benz is plotting an all-electric luxury flagship to rival upcoming cars from Audi and Jaguar, according to a new report out of the UK. Autocar quotes the company's large cars project boss, Michael Kelz, saying: "We will have an electric vehicle at the level of the S-Class, no doubt, but it will not be the S-Class". The new vehicle will come under Mercedes-Benz's new EQ electric sub-brand, and use the new MEA modular architecture for electric vehicles (EV).