Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Mercedes-Benz A-Class

While Mercedes-Benz is a leader in clean diesel technology, the German luxury brand has been lagging behind its arch-rival BMW when it comes to the adoption of green technology such as stop/start in its lower-end models. This omission will soon change, as the A-Class and B-Class models, which are not sold in the U.S. market, will be granted the technology shortly. While consumers will likely appreciate the fuel savings most, the brand will be happy to report the reduction in carbon dioxide, which is regulated in most of the world.

The stop/start technology that will be used by Mercedes-Benz is a very basic system and is shared with the smart brand. Because the starter will be used much more often than normal, a larger starter motor and battery is required. BMW harnesses a portion of the energy usually lost when braking to recharge this more powerful battery. Mercedes' system does not allow this capability, though the automaker claims it is hard at work on the next-generation version of this technology which they say will incorporate regenerative braking.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req'd]

Small cars often come in handy, especially when writing the initial check to purchase it and when pulling up next to the gas pump. For obvious reasons, the smaller the car and the smaller the engine, the less it costs and the less gas it uses. Anyway, Chrysler has been after a small B-Class car of their own for a while now, and appeared to have a deal in hand with the Chinese carmaker Chery for a car in that segment, namely, the Dodge Hornet. We have brought you quite a few news stories since then regarding that deal, which seems odd, considering that a deal had apparently been struck already... but, it seems that Chery might think that the deal is off based on the new owner of the Chrysler group. According to this story on Autoblog, Chery wants to renegotiate the deal with Cerberus, the new owner. I guess we'll just need to keep an eye on this one for now and hope that the vehicle gets built at some point.

Previously on AutoblogGreen:

• Chrysler VP talks about Chery and the Hornet
• Dodge Hornet, Chery S12, the QQ, and more updates on the Chery/DCX allianace
• DCX board approves small car partnership with Chery

[Source: Autoblog]