Mercedes-Benz E300 Coupe AMG Line: car review | Martin Love

Mercedes-Benz is having its best ever year - and leading the charge is the imperious new E-Class

Kevin Ashton didn't take the usual route into computing. The man who coined the term "the internet of things" actually studied Scandinavian literature at the University of London. He now lives in Austin, Texas, and is one of the foremost thinkers on exactly where the internet is taking us and how it will impact on our everyday lives. In a recent interview he envisioned that in "25 years we'll be able to live in Edinburgh and commute in our self-driving cars to London via a trunk road designed especially for the purpose, at speeds of up to 250mph." Well, maybe" but one thing is for sure: I'll still be stopping for a bowl of delicious home-made soup at Tebay services in the Lakes.

If Kevin's vision comes true, chances are that Mercedes will be making many of the cars we'll be driving, I mean, that we'll be driven in. In terms of sales, the maker has just had its most successful ever first half year (1,144,274 units sold) and most successful ever June (209,309 cars delivered). Sales are up 35% in China and 47% in South Korea. The German builder uses terms like "private retreat" and "digital living space" to describe today's cars and its prototype luxury sedans.