Customers and fans of smart cars can make their way to the Mercedes-Benz World on Saturday June 21st to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the brand.

A range of activities have been scheduled and drivers will get a chance to try out the new electric smart car as well as enjoying the attractions at Mercedes-Benz World.

Dermot Kelly, managing director Mercedes Car Group, said: "Mercedes-Benz World is one of the UK’s most popular visitor attractions and is perfectly suited to hold this annual smart celebration."

Last year the entertainment included stunt driving, a display of concept cars and the smart monster truck.

In 2008, smart lovers can look forward to a competition to find the best smart car in different categories and more details, according to Al Young, chairman and managing director of Thesmartclub.

Visitors to Mercedes-Benz World can see the Brooklands Museum which features a Grand Prix exhibition featuring cars driven by racing heroes such as Ayrton Senna.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class has reached the final as it aims for the prize of 2008 World Car of the Year.

From an initial list of 39 different vehicles, the best ten were chosen and this was then broken down to three finalists.

An international panel of 47 automotive journalists from 24 countries around the world will now judge the winner which will be announced at the New York Auto Show on March 20th.

The awards are in their fifth year and have become one of the most prestigious automobile prizes around the world.

To be eligible for the award, the vehicle has to have been in production and sold on at least two continents during the year.

If the Mercedes-Benz C-Class was to win the award it would add to the Yellow Angel award it received in January as well as awards in South Africa and Australia.

The vehicle has also achieved a five-star safety rating for adults from Euro NCAP and featured in the film National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

Also nominated for a prize is the smart fortwo cdi which is up for the 2008 World Green Car award.

Find out more about the C-Class at mercedes-benz.co.uk.

As well as leading the way in low fuel consumption, the smart brand is releasing a new book to question generally accepted ideas.

The book: "sideways. a smart art project" will be released in New York and includes the work of 100 international artists and creative minds as they seek to evaluate the way people consider the environment.

Photography, illustration, graphic design, painting, sculpture, architecture, styling and hair dressing can all be found in the new book.

One of the main aims of the smart brand is to develop greener urban transportation for the future and models in the smart brand have been leading the way in low-emission driving.

An international marketing campaign will also take place to underline that sustainable motoring can take place without neglecting style.

Anders Sundt Jensen, head of marketing and sales at smart, said: "sideways looks at the issue of ecology in a new creative context, and it should therefore generate some interesting new takes on the topic.

"This is a key motivation behind the approach of smart itself," he added.

View the smart model range available in the United Kingdom at thesmart.co.uk

Mercedes-Benz Cars is expecting a further increase in sales during 2008 after a record breaking 2007.

Presenting its preliminary and unaudited figures for the 2007 financial year, Daimler AG announced a positive impact from the significantly higher earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) from the Mercedes-Benz Cars division.

Efficiency improvements and the development of unit sales profited the sector which also saw an increase in expenditure for research and development to E2.7 billion.

Mercedes-Benz Cars (including smart, maybach and Mercedes-Benz McLaren) sold 1,293,200 vehicles last year, exceeding the record set in 2006 with the Mercedes-Benz brand increasing unit sales by three per cent to 1,180,100 vehicles.

Ebit for the sector increased to E4.753 while return on sales reached 9.1 per cent, a significant increase on its original target of seven per cent.

The new C-Class was the most important model in the range after going on sale midway through the year and the S-Class continued its good performance in the luxury sector.

Choose the new car that suits you from the online model showroom on mercedes-benz.co.uk

The smart fortwo micro hybrid drive (mhd) has been awarded the ‘Oko-Trend’ environmental certificate.

Following extensive analysis of the vehicle, the smart fortwo mhd received top marks for all environment-related criteria and according to the findings scored excellent fuel consumption ratings.

The organisation was particularly impressed with the start-stop function which allows the smart fortwo mhd to be idle at traffic lights, level crossings and traffic.

As the engine shuts down completely when the car is resting, all the driver must do to restart and move without delay is to take their foot off the brake pedal.

"That works perfectly smoothly in practice, providing for a pleasant calm and quiet while the car is stationary and reducing fuel consumption," the organisation said.

The Oko-Trend environmental certificate for cars is a further development of the Oko-Trend annual car environmental ranking that has been going since 1997.

As Mercedes-Benz Fashion week continues, the stars are still rolling into New York.

Music star Rihanna and actress Brooke Shields were front row guests for the Proenza Schouler show that started off using paper aeroplanes.

Designers Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, who had been interns for Marc Jacobs, sent out their models in looks created by folding single pieces of jewel-toned silk twill and wool melton.

Also in attendance were singers Fergie and Joss Stone while Brittany Murphy and Amy Smart also made the prestigious event.

Fergie, the Black Eyed Peas frontwoman, headed to the Marc Jacobs fashion show which saw models making their moves down the catwalk wearing black biker jackets, leather dresses and tuxedo jackets, Dallas news reports.

American hip-hop legend Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is also scheduled to return to the fashion world with his new Sean John later in the week.

Mercedes-Benz Cars delivered 90,400 models to customers across the globe during January, an increase of last year’s figure of 77,700.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class was extremely successful with sales of the new estate and saloon reaching 26,800 units – double the 2007 figure of 13,400 units.

Sales of the A-Class and B-Class models also did well with 17,000 units being sold worldwide, a three per cent increase on the 2007 figure.

Double-digit growth was seen in the UK allowing sales in western Europe outside Germany to grow by 12 per cent to 27,900 units and set an all-time high for Mercedes-Benz.

Worldwide sales of the smart fortwo reached 8,000 – a marked increase on the 3,400 sold in January 2007 and a new record.

Sales of the Mercedes-Benz, AMG, Maybach and smart brands rose by 16 per cent to set a new record.