The Stuttgart-based automobile manufacturer Daimler AG has won four first places in the Europe-wide survey to decide the 2009 Internet Auto Awards. The Mercedes-Benz B-Class was voted Europe's most popular van, for which it received the "Carolina" Trophy. The new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG took first place in the online vote for the most popular new product at this year's Frankfurt International Motor Show. The editors of AutoScout24 declared "e-mobility Berlin" with the smart electric drive to be the best environmental initiative – the first large-scale project for urban electro-mobility. The best innovation was the SPLITVIEW technology that now enables the driver and front passenger to see different displays on one and the same screen at the same time.
For the eighth time AutoScout24, Germany's best-known online automobile market-place, conducted an online survey to establish Europe's most popular cars and the best automobile-related ideas. In the "Vans and Compact Vans" category, the majority of the more than 250,000 users gave first place to the Mercedes-Benz B-Class. This year 331 models in nine vehicle categories competed for Europe's largest public awards in the automobile sector.
In voting the Mercedes-Benz B-Class the most popular van, the participants above all acknowledged the fact that it combines the advantages of different vehicle concepts: this four-door model has the dynamic design of a sports saloon, the exterior dimensions of a compact car, the spaciousness of an estate car and the variability of a minivan.
The new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG was the undisputed No. 1 attraction at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt. This is shown by an online public survey conducted in connection with the show by AutoScout24. By a wide margin, the new Gullwing model was voted the most popular among 27 new product presentations. This means that immediately after its world premiere, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG has received its first sought-after award in the form of the Carolina Trophy.
The editors of AutoScout24 voted the project "e-mobility Berlin" with the smart electric drive the best environmental initiative. In cooperation with RWE and with the support of the federal German government and the city of Berlin, Daimler AG is currently creating the conditions for locally emission-free driving under battery-electric power in the German capital. Equipped with the innovative, highly efficient lithium-ion battery, more than 100 electric cars with environmentally friendly drive units will be on the roads as part of this project. The cars Daimler is using are the smart fortwo electric drive and the Mercedes-Benz A-Class with electric drive. Deliveries of the first vehicles will commence at the end of this year.
In the special category "Best Innovation", for which an award was also presented by the editors of AutoScout24, Mercedes-Benz also took first place with the new SPLITVIEW technology. This system available in the S-Class enables the driver and front passenger to see two different displays on the same screen at the same time. While the driver is e.g. following the navigation instructions, the front passenger can be watching a film on the same screen.
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