Mercedes-Benz is seeking 30 graduates with work experience in customer-services, to help support the nationwide roll-out of its new, fully integrated, online Point of Sales system.

During this exciting 6-month project, you’ll work in dealerships across the UK, giving onsite support to Mercedes-Benz sales executives, while also gathering and reporting user feedback on the new system. You’ll be fully trained at our Milton Keynes head office, and at Mercedes-Benz dealerships where you’ll get the chance to shadow trained colleagues.

In return we can offer you an excellent salary package, equivalent to £24,000 per annum (pro-rata), as well as the following benefits:

The successful roll-out of the new online sales system is seen as paramount to our long-term goal of becoming the world’s biggest selling luxury carmaker by 2020.

As an Onsite Support Consultant, you’ll not only have the opportunity to help implement this important project, but also gain valuable work experience at the same time. And at the end of your 6-month contract, top performers may be offered a permanent role with the Mercedes-Benz group of companies in the UK.

So if you’re self-motivated, customer-centric and commercially aware, and you possess what it takes to succeed in this fast-paced, exciting environment – we’d like to hear from you today!

For more information about this fantastic opportunity, visit our careers website here.

Note: Candidates must be available to start by either 3rd June or 15th July 2013.

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An International Partner since 2008, Mercedes-Benz will join AT&T and IBM as one of just three Global Sponsors, beginning at the 2014 tournament next April.

Commenting on the news, Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Mercedes-Benz Cars, Sales and Marketing, said: “The Masters is the most prestigious golf tournament in the world. It’s a great honour for Mercedes-Benz to now be associated with the Masters Tournament as one of the three Global Sponsors.”

He continued: “The partnership with the Masters Tournament has proven to be the perfect match for us since 2008. Both brands have long-standing traditions and are connected by the passion for perfection.”

As a select partner to The Open Championship and PGA Championships, as well as the Masters, Mercedes-Benz enjoys a reputation as one of the strongest supporters of professional golf’s most prestigious tournaments.

At the 77th Masters Tournament this year, Mercedes-Benz brand ambassador Adam Scott claimed victory in a thrilling play-off against former champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina.

For all the latest golfing news, including pictures, video footage and exclusive interviews, visit the Mercedes-Benz Official Golf Facebook page.

“We have focused our efforts in two key areas; finalising our upgrade package for Spain and understanding our comparative lack of race pace in Bahrain”, said Team Principal, Ross Brawn.

The circuit itself is well known as a benchmark for aerodynamic performance, with its combination of long straights and high-speed corners. But changeable conditions here can often lead to unexpected results, as Brawn points out: “The Circuit de Catalunya is a circuit that we know well and we have a lot of data from the two pre-season tests to help prepare for the weekend. However in the late spring conditions, we can expect the track to be of a very different nature to what we experienced earlier this year. Overtaking is more difficult there than at some of the early season tracks and, of course, every team will be bringing new developments so the weekend should provide an interesting challenge.”

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Now however, with the help of two state-of-the-art climate tunnels installed last year at the Sindelfingen Centre in Stuttgart, Mercedes-Benz is able to complete a major part of this process without a test car even leaving the production plant.

By simulating extreme environments inside the tunnel, development engineers can subject a car to everything from hurricane winds and tropical downpours, to freezing blizzards and desert heat – all at the push of a button.

Temperatures range from minus 40 degrees Celsius in the cold tunnel, to 60 degrees Celsius in the heat tunnel. In the wind tunnel, windspeeds can reach 165 mph, and all kinds of precipitation from tropical rainstorms to heavy snowstorms can be simulated.

As well as providing an ideal test bed for heating and air-conditioning systems, the artificial weather simulator is also used to check a range of vehicle components, from windscreen wipers to brakes. Each tunnel also has a rolling dynamometer that allows road speeds of up to 165 mph, so cars can be tested under simulated high speeds in any conditions.

While it’s still essential to test vehicles under actual road conditions, this innovative technology provides an important intermediate stage between virtual testing of a new model and real-life road testing. It allows individual components to be tested very early in the development process, which speeds up the prototype phase and helps to reduce the total number of test miles required before a new car is launched.

As Dr Thomas Weber from Daimler AG’s Research and Development department explains: “Even in the arctic regions of Sweden, temperatures in winter are not always as low as we would like them to be for our test drives. Nor can we always rely on getting the extreme high summer temperatures we need for testing. In our new climatic wind tunnels we can create whatever climate conditions we want at any time of year, whenever we need them.”

See the Mercedes-Benz climate tunnels in action here.

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With a high-tech 360-degree screen, electric hydraulic system and twelve-metre rail for transverse movement, this state-of-the-art simulator has revolutionised the development of new vehicle systems since it was installed in October 2010.

Explaining the benefits, Dr Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management responsible for Group Research and Head of Development, Mercedes-Benz Cars, said: “With the new simulator, we are able to reproduce highly dynamic driving manoeuvres such as lane changing even more realistically, and to research the behaviour of the driver and the vehicle in road traffic in even greater depth.”

Inside the simulator, the test driver sits in a real vehicle. The vehicle controls are linked to a high-performance computerised system by data lines, so when the driver turns the steering wheel, accelerates or brakes, these reactions are registered by the computer over 1000 times per second, mirroring the effects of a real traffic situation.

To replicate real-life driving even further, the scenery on the 360-degree screen is constantly changing. Extreme situations such as quick evasive manoeuvres appear incredibly real as the moving cell simulates the vehicle’s performance on the road, for example when braking suddenly or cornering at speed. Moving at a maximum speed of ten metres per second, it can even simulate more complex manoeuvres such as double lane changes.

While the virtual experience isn’t designed to replace real test drives, it offers valuable insight at a very early phase in vehicle development – allowing engineers to design or optimise systems based on actual human interaction.

You can watch the world’s most powerful driving simulator in action here.

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Officially unveiled at the 2013 Shanghai motor show in April, this striking concept model marks a whole new approach for Mercedes-Benz in the compact SUV segment.

“This is a sporty and more coupé-like evolution of this category of vehicle”, explained Dr Joachim Schmidt, Head of Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Cars.

Combining dramatic styling with tough off-road looks, the Concept GLA shares its design credentials with the recently launched A-Class. Distinctive features include the broad bonnet with powerdomes, the muscular rear and a sporty radiator grille with centrally positioned star.

Sinewy lines and sculpted surfaces create a dynamic silhouette, while the sophisticated interior features dark galvanised aluminium trim, LED air vents and saddle leather upholstery with hand-stitched seams.

Additional highlights include a clear panoramic roof fitted with detachable cameras, and ‘laser-light’ headlamps that can also function as projectors, transmitting pictures or films onto a surface through COMAND Online.

The Concept GLA is equipped with a four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine rated at 211 hp, along with a 7G-DCT dual clutch automatic transmission and 4MATIC all-wheel drive. Its athletic proportions (length/width/height: 4383/1978/1579 mm) are almost identical to those of the production car.

For more information about the new Concept GLA – sign up for official updates as they happen.

See the Concept GLA in action here.

Equipped with the world’s most powerful series production four-cylinder turbo engine, AMG’s 2.0-litre turbo, this new incarnation of “Driving Performance” delivers all the power and poise of a supercar, but for the first time ever – in a compact car.

“With the new A 45 AMG we have well and truly achieved our aim of developing the most dynamic, powerful and efficient four-cylinder series production car,” said Tobias Moers, Head of Overall Vehicle Development and Board Member of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. “With its impressive high-tech package and the performance-oriented AMG 4MATIC all-wheel drive, the A 45 AMG is a thoroughbred AMG through and through.”

Combining high power and torque output (360 hp and 450 Nm respectively), with the performance-oriented AMG 4MATIC all-wheel drive, the A 45 AMG devours 0-60 mph in just 4.6 seconds. And yet remarkably, its specially hand-built AMG engine is a model of efficiency – boasting fuel consumption of 40.9 mpg in combined mode* and compliance with the EU6 emissions standard for 2014.

Additional enhancements include the exclusive AMG SPEEDSHIFT DCT 7-speed sports transmission, which offers lightening-quick gear changes, and the optional AMG Performance exhaust system for a thrilling audible experience.

The 3-stage ESP® with ESP® Curve Dynamic Assist offers increased agility and control when cornering, while the AMG sports suspension achieves the best possible traction during highly dynamic driving.

Add to the mix emphatically sporty and muscular highlights both inside and out, and the A 45 AMG shares its credentials with some of the most prestigious vehicles in the Mercedes-AMG line-up.

The world premiere of the A 45 AMG took place at the Geneva Motor Show on 5 March 2013. Discover more here.

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* MPG figure disclaimer

Despite a slow start, Hamilton fought his way up the field from ninth position, overtaking Red Bull’s Mark Webber on the final lap of the race to take fifth place. Describing his battle with Webber as ‘good, clean wheel-to-wheel racing’, he reflected: “My race didn’t start well at all. I was looking after the tyres but I really struggled on the first two stints and was falling back. But as the temperatures dropped, the car picked up and then I had the grip that I needed to push and close the gap.”

Hamilton added: “I’m very proud of what we have achieved over the first four races and to be third in the Drivers’ Championship is beyond any of our expectations. But we’ve got to keep pushing and find more performance.”

Rosberg meanwhile was forced to convert to a four-stop strategy at the end of his third stint due to problems with tyre degradation. Commenting on the race he said: “We were using the rear tyres too much and at the end, I was really struggling and wasn’t able to push hard enough. There is a lot of work ahead and we need to focus on why our race performance isn’t matching the pace that we can show in qualifying. Hopefully we can make some steps here before the European season starts.”

Team Principal Ross Brawn acknowledged that both cars struggled in the early stages of the race when the track temperatures were at their highest. He admitted: “This is an issue we have to address and we will continue working on solutions to improve our performance in this area.”

However, he concluded: “We got two cars home in the points, both drivers enjoyed some exciting wheel-to-wheel racing and the pit crew delivered some great stops. Lewis and Nico did as good a job as possible with the car we had this afternoon but it was a case of damage limitation for both of them.”

Stay tuned for the next race of the season: the Spanish Grand Prix 10–12 May.

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The first Australian winner of the Masters, Scott claimed a dramatic victory on Sunday evening in a thrilling play-off against former champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina.

Scott finished the final round level with Cabrera on nine under before putting in from 15 feet at the second play-off hole to win the first major of his career.

“It fell my way today, there was some luck there but it’s incredible to be in this position. I’m honoured,” said Scott after the tournament. He added: “This is the one thing in golf we hadn’t been able to achieve. It’s amazing that it’s my destiny to be the first Australian to win.”

2009 winner Cabrera said he had no doubt that Scott would win a major someday soon. He claimed: “Adam is a great person, a great player. In a playoff, one-on-one, there’s got to be only one winner. And it was him…It was just a matter of time.”

Scott has come full circle since his unexpected defeat last summer at The Open Championship. This well-earned triumph sees him not only claim the much coveted Green Jacket, but also his place in history as one of the world’s greatest golfing heroes.

See exclusive pictures of Adam Scott’s spectacular win here.

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Starting from pole, Hamilton completed a three-stop strategy, stopping on laps 5, 21 and 37. However race conditions were less favourable than in qualifying, as Toto Wolff explained: “During practice and qualifying, the track conditions suited us better than in the race and, as a result, the balance of the car changed and wasn’t as good for both drivers.”

Commenting on his result Hamilton said: “While I would have loved the win, I’m really happy with third place.” He added: “We got the absolute most out of the car we had and that’s very satisfying. We’re not quite there yet in terms of overall pace but everyone is working so hard and I know we can do it.”

Team Principal Ross Brawn felt that: “We didn’t quite enjoy the balance with the car today that we were expecting. Clearly the track had moved away from us and perhaps more towards one or two other teams.” But he concluded: “Overall we can be confident that we’ve made another step forward this weekend, and the fact that we’re all a little disappointed with third is a measure of the ambition and expectations of the team.”

Meanwhile teammate Nico Rosberg was forced to retire on lap 21 following a problem with the rear anti-roll bar. He commented: “It’s a shame and I’ve had a difficult start to the season with two DNFs. But it’s good to have the next race in just seven days time so hopefully we can put this result behind us with a strong weekend in Bahrain. It was great for the team to get another podium today.”

Attention now turns to the next race of the season – the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir, 19–21 April.

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