FRANKFURT - Daimler AG has unveiled the newest version of its S-Class model from luxury Mercedes-Benz brand, a key part of the company's effort to restore its earnings performance. The new S-class sedan was shown off Wednesday at a ceremony in Hamburg, Germany. It has a taller grille that changes its exterior appearance, but the major emphasis was on the technology added to increase driver comfort and safety — and underline the Mercedes' image as an advanced vehicle for the well-heeled.

A wealthy Chinese Maserati owner hired four sledgehammer-wielding men to smash up his $420,000 supercar in protest at poor customer service, reports said Wednesday. The car owner, identified only by his surname Wang, had the group attack the Maserati Quattroporte at the opening of an auto show in the eastern city of Qingdao in Shandong province, the Qingdao Morning Post said.

DETROIT - Three Ohio drivers are suing Ford Motor Co., claiming the company's six-cylinder EcoBoost engine is defective. The lawsuit says the 3.5-litre V6 EcoBoost engine can shudder, shake and rapidly lose power while drivers are trying to accelerate. It says more than 100 drivers have complained about the engine to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Ford has been selling vehicles equipped with the V6 EcoBoost since 2009. The engine is used on the F-150 pickup, Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKS sedans and the Explorer, Flex and Lincoln MKT utilities.

KAMINOKAWA-MACHI, Japan - Nissan Motor Co. President Carlos Ghosn welcomed the yen's recent decline to what he called "neutral" levels for the Japanese automaker's profitability, but said Tuesday it must drop further to be "normal." "The abnormal situation of the yen is hopefully something of the past," he told reporters at the roll-off ceremony for a new Infiniti luxury model, the Q50. Workers cheered as Ghosn, a rare foreigner to lead a Japanese company, toasted the first Q50 off the assembly line with an energy drink and a speech in Japanese.