Latest news with #GLA
Business Wire
a day ago
- Automotive
- Business Wire
Mercedes-Benz USA Appoints Greg Gates as Vice President of Network Development
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) today announced the appointment of Greg Gates as Vice President of Network Development, effective September 2. Gates succeeds Frank Diertl, who recently retired from the company, and will join the MBUSA executive team at the North American headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. 'We are pleased to welcome Greg back to Mercedes-Benz USA in this critical executive role. Our extensive retail network is a crucial component and catalyst to our success. Greg's experience with the brand and in the broader automotive industry will ensure he is poised and ready to work with our incredible dealer partners to further enhance the network and overall customer experience within the U.S. market.' -Adam Chamberlain, President & CEO Mercedes-Benz USA Gates began his career with Mercedes-Benz in 1999 at Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and has held multiple leadership roles in the U.S. and internationally. He later served as General Manager of Strategic Retail Development at Mercedes-Benz USA, helping to steer the dealer network with a strategic and targeted approach which contributed to achieving multiple years of luxury market sales leadership. Following his original tenure with Mercedes-Benz, Gates joined Swickard Auto Group as Vice President of Business Transformation. Most recently Gates served as Chief Operating Officer at RockED, where he spearheaded operational strategy, enterprise sales and partner integration. Gates holds both a Bachelor's of Science degree and a Master's of Business Administration from Oregon State University. About Mercedes-Benz USA Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA), headquartered in Atlanta, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and customer service for all Mercedes-Benz products in the United States. MBUSA offers drivers the most diverse line-up in the luxury segment with 18 model lines ranging from the sporty GLA SUV to the flagship S-Class and the dynamic all-electric vehicles from Mercedes-Benz. MBUSA is also responsible for Mercedes-Benz Vans in the U.S. More information on MBUSA and its products can be found at and To learn more about all Mercedes-Benz entities in North America, visit Accredited journalists can visit our media site at
The Age
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Age
This AFL pick swap was part of North Melbourne's grand plan. But now they're on the verge of unwanted history
'You'd hope we'd improve quite a bit, given the cattle we've brought in and another year in these young kids, but it's hard to say,' Thursfield said at the time. 'We've got to back ourselves in a bit.' It was the equivalent of Carlton's trade with Adelaide seven years ago, when the Blues' then-list manager, Stephen Silvagni, swapped future first-rounders with the Crows to get back into the 2018 draft at No.19 to select Liam Stocker. Silvagni declared they viewed Stocker as the sixth-best player in the class. Stocker played 28 games in four seasons before Silvagni's replacement as Carlton list boss, Nick Austin, delisted him at the end of 2022, only for the ex-Blue to join Silvagni at St Kilda. It was a similar story with Thursfield, who said they felt Whitlock was 'around the mark' of the top 10 in the 2024 draft, while noting many key-position players tumbled. Loading The Roos could limit the damage and leapfrog both the Tigers and Bombers into 15th place, if they win their final two matches of the season and other results go their way. But regardless, Richmond have done well out of the deal. 'There's a risk with both those things,' Yze said this week. 'Whether Matt Whitlock ends up playing 250 games; it could [look] the other way. Right now, it looks like we might win out of that deal, but when you look at the Kangas – they would have felt that they're going to [climb the ladder in 2025]. They've been in a lot of games this year, and they're obviously improving. 'Those things happen every year, so you probably can't look at the result of that until 10 years' time.' Why cohesion matters Richmond have already won more games this season (five) than North Melbourne have in any season since they parted with 14 players – excluding Will Walker, who they redrafted – at the end of 2020. Like the Kangaroos, the Tigers are rebuilding, and that went into overdrive last year when they made 10 list changes between delistings, retirements, free agency and trades. Yze is in his second year at Richmond since replacing triple-premiership coach Damien Hardwick. This is all important when introducing Gain Line Analytics (GLA), a sports and corporate consultancy company that has developed a data-driven model that illustrates team performance is strongly linked to cohesion. Company co-founder, and general manager of sport, Simon Strachan defines cohesion as 'the objective measure of understanding between teammates', which includes – but is not limited to – games played together; weekly team selection; and even coaching changes. GLA, which consults many AFL clubs and has a strong association with rugby and rugby league teams as well, uses this data to develop team in-season cohesion markers, or scores. Strachan said GLA's data showed that teams with a higher score in this metric tended to outperform rivals with lower levels. 'The AFL tends to have the longest build cycle of most professional sports,' he said. 'Which is why teams going through a rebuild phase take a long time to be truly competitive – and why if teams are not patient through a rebuild; they tend to be stuck in an ongoing recruiting cycle, never being able to develop competitive cohesion markers.' Richmond's cohesion score in round one was 5.12, compared to North Melbourne's 6.37. The competition average at that stage was 9.13. The Tigers have recorded a double-digit score in all their past eight games – peaking last week at 15.46, ahead of the competition average of 15.34. The Roos reached double digits for four straight games from rounds 13-16, but their score plummeted in the weeks since as injuries piled up. Richmond's season-high marker coincided with Tim Taranto and premiership stars Tom Lynch and Nathan Broad replacing first-year trio Jonty Faull, Luke Trainor and Tom Sims. Strachan is concerned about North Melbourne's rebuild, based on their cohesion markers, given they recorded higher scores under David Noble in 2021 than Clarkson this season. Four years ago, the Kangaroos started the season at 3.52, but their final 11 games ranged between 10.82 and 13.8. Loading Successful rebuilds that GLA tracked, such as reigning premiers Brisbane Lions and 2025 ladder-leaders Adelaide, showed consistent cohesion growth across several years. The Crows and Roos finished second-last and last, respectively, in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign, but GLA data demonstrates how Adelaide's team in-season cohesion increased significantly as North's stagnated in the years since. 'North Melbourne bringing in Alastair Clarkson has so far not created any significant difference to the club's overall cohesion,' Strachan said. 'It is very difficult for a coach to get high levels of performance out of a low cohesion team. 'Even Clarkson in his last year at Hawthorn [in 2021] was working with a low cohesion environment – and the results reflected this. The greatest benefit of Clarkson for North Melbourne is not his coaching ability, but the confidence to give him time to build.' Why Roos aren't bounding up ladder North Melbourne and West Coast are the only clubs to not record a single top-eight scalp in either of the past two seasons. Richmond, who came last in 2024, secured one in each of those years. The Kangaroos drew with Brisbane in round nine, but this is a damning statistic for Clarkson and his Roos, who joined forces ahead of the 2023 season. They have struggled to score as a team, with only one reliable goalkicker – star forward Nick Larkey – while ranking 15th or worse in average points in each of Clarkson's three years at the helm. Champion Data considers the two key scoring sources to be from turnovers and stoppages. North have made little-to-no improvement in those areas under Clarkson. They were 17th in per-game differential for both in 2023, 18th in each last year, and currently are last in scores from turnover differential and 16th in the stoppage equivalent. The Roos' actual differentials have barely moved either. The Tigers were 17th in those scoring sources last season, and remain on that ranking in scores from stoppages in 2025, but have improved to 15th in scores from turnover, while reducing their differential from minus-21 to minus-18.4. Clarkson believes North Melbourne are making strides. His consistent line, which he repeated on Friday, is that they are in 'a lot more games' this year. The Kangaroos have played nine matches decided by 16 points or fewer, winning three of them, losing five and drawing another. In 2024, they featured in eight contests decided by 19 points or fewer, for three victories. As for Richmond, Clarkson does not think Sunday's result will be the best gauge of which club is rebuilding better. Loading 'What really excites us is the sides like Adelaide and Brisbane Lions, who have been on the same journey as us,' Clarkson said. 'Adelaide aren't quite there yet, but they're on top of the ladder and looking really good, [and] Brisbane took seven or eight years to get from the bottom to the top. 'We know what the formula is, but it's a difficult track, and there's no guarantee that you're ever going to get there. What we can guarantee is we're trying our best. 'Everyone will like to think that whoever wins this game is on track to get there a little bit quicker than the other, but it's over a long journey rather than a short one.'
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
This AFL pick swap was part of North Melbourne's grand plan. But now they're on the verge of unwanted history
'You'd hope we'd improve quite a bit, given the cattle we've brought in and another year in these young kids, but it's hard to say,' Thursfield said at the time. 'We've got to back ourselves in a bit.' It was the equivalent of Carlton's trade with Adelaide seven years ago, when the Blues' then-list manager, Stephen Silvagni, swapped future first-rounders with the Crows to get back into the 2018 draft at No.19 to select Liam Stocker. Silvagni declared they viewed Stocker as the sixth-best player in the class. Stocker played 28 games in four seasons before Silvagni's replacement as Carlton list boss, Nick Austin, delisted him at the end of 2022, only for the ex-Blue to join Silvagni at St Kilda. It was a similar story with Thursfield, who said they felt Whitlock was 'around the mark' of the top 10 in the 2024 draft, while noting many key-position players tumbled. Loading The Roos could limit the damage and leapfrog both the Tigers and Bombers into 15th place, if they win their final two matches of the season and other results go their way. But regardless, Richmond have done well out of the deal. 'There's a risk with both those things,' Yze said this week. 'Whether Matt Whitlock ends up playing 250 games; it could [look] the other way. Right now, it looks like we might win out of that deal, but when you look at the Kangas – they would have felt that they're going to [climb the ladder in 2025]. They've been in a lot of games this year, and they're obviously improving. 'Those things happen every year, so you probably can't look at the result of that until 10 years' time.' Why cohesion matters Richmond have already won more games this season (five) than North Melbourne have in any season since they parted with 14 players – excluding Will Walker, who they redrafted – at the end of 2020. Like the Kangaroos, the Tigers are rebuilding, and that went into overdrive last year when they made 10 list changes between delistings, retirements, free agency and trades. Yze is in his second year at Richmond since replacing triple-premiership coach Damien Hardwick. This is all important when introducing Gain Line Analytics (GLA), a sports and corporate consultancy company that has developed a data-driven model that illustrates team performance is strongly linked to cohesion. Company co-founder, and general manager of sport, Simon Strachan defines cohesion as 'the objective measure of understanding between teammates', which includes – but is not limited to – games played together; weekly team selection; and even coaching changes. GLA, which consults many AFL clubs and has a strong association with rugby and rugby league teams as well, uses this data to develop team in-season cohesion markers, or scores. Strachan said GLA's data showed that teams with a higher score in this metric tended to outperform rivals with lower levels. 'The AFL tends to have the longest build cycle of most professional sports,' he said. 'Which is why teams going through a rebuild phase take a long time to be truly competitive – and why if teams are not patient through a rebuild; they tend to be stuck in an ongoing recruiting cycle, never being able to develop competitive cohesion markers.' Richmond's cohesion score in round one was 5.12, compared to North Melbourne's 6.37. The competition average at that stage was 9.13. The Tigers have recorded a double-digit score in all their past eight games – peaking last week at 15.46, ahead of the competition average of 15.34. The Roos reached double digits for four straight games from rounds 13-16, but their score plummeted in the weeks since as injuries piled up. Richmond's season-high marker coincided with Tim Taranto and premiership stars Tom Lynch and Nathan Broad replacing first-year trio Jonty Faull, Luke Trainor and Tom Sims. Strachan is concerned about North Melbourne's rebuild, based on their cohesion markers, given they recorded higher scores under David Noble in 2021 than Clarkson this season. Four years ago, the Kangaroos started the season at 3.52, but their final 11 games ranged between 10.82 and 13.8. Loading Successful rebuilds that GLA tracked, such as reigning premiers Brisbane Lions and 2025 ladder-leaders Adelaide, showed consistent cohesion growth across several years. The Crows and Roos finished second-last and last, respectively, in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign, but GLA data demonstrates how Adelaide's team in-season cohesion increased significantly as North's stagnated in the years since. 'North Melbourne bringing in Alastair Clarkson has so far not created any significant difference to the club's overall cohesion,' Strachan said. 'It is very difficult for a coach to get high levels of performance out of a low cohesion team. 'Even Clarkson in his last year at Hawthorn [in 2021] was working with a low cohesion environment – and the results reflected this. The greatest benefit of Clarkson for North Melbourne is not his coaching ability, but the confidence to give him time to build.' Why Roos aren't bounding up ladder North Melbourne and West Coast are the only clubs to not record a single top-eight scalp in either of the past two seasons. Richmond, who came last in 2024, secured one in each of those years. The Kangaroos drew with Brisbane in round nine, but this is a damning statistic for Clarkson and his Roos, who joined forces ahead of the 2023 season. They have struggled to score as a team, with only one reliable goalkicker – star forward Nick Larkey – while ranking 15th or worse in average points in each of Clarkson's three years at the helm. Champion Data considers the two key scoring sources to be from turnovers and stoppages. North have made little-to-no improvement in those areas under Clarkson. They were 17th in per-game differential for both in 2023, 18th in each last year, and currently are last in scores from turnover differential and 16th in the stoppage equivalent. The Roos' actual differentials have barely moved either. The Tigers were 17th in those scoring sources last season, and remain on that ranking in scores from stoppages in 2025, but have improved to 15th in scores from turnover, while reducing their differential from minus-21 to minus-18.4. Clarkson believes North Melbourne are making strides. His consistent line, which he repeated on Friday, is that they are in 'a lot more games' this year. The Kangaroos have played nine matches decided by 16 points or fewer, winning three of them, losing five and drawing another. In 2024, they featured in eight contests decided by 19 points or fewer, for three victories. As for Richmond, Clarkson does not think Sunday's result will be the best gauge of which club is rebuilding better. Loading 'What really excites us is the sides like Adelaide and Brisbane Lions, who have been on the same journey as us,' Clarkson said. 'Adelaide aren't quite there yet, but they're on top of the ladder and looking really good, [and] Brisbane took seven or eight years to get from the bottom to the top. 'We know what the formula is, but it's a difficult track, and there's no guarantee that you're ever going to get there. What we can guarantee is we're trying our best. 'Everyone will like to think that whoever wins this game is on track to get there a little bit quicker than the other, but it's over a long journey rather than a short one.'
Auto Express
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Auto Express
New Mercedes GLA spied with cutting-edge EV powertrain
Mercedes is putting the finishing touches to a new generation of its smallest SUV, the GLA – and our spies have caught the forthcoming model out in the open. This all-new model will share its underpinnings, including its cutting-edge MMA platform and hyper-efficient electric or hybrid powertrains, with the new CLA. It'll go on sale within the next 12 months, and cost from around £40,000 in hybrid form, or £45,000 as an EV. Advertisement - Article continues below Despite the car in these photos being hidden under camouflage, we can see lots of new design details that'll draw from the forthcoming GLC SUV we'll see at the Munich Motor Show in September. They include a big illuminated grille and sleek headlights that bleed into them. The rear end will feature dramatic new lighting, likely connected by a thin lightbar with three-pointed elements at the centre of each unit. The body's size, though, won't grow much because the new GLA will also in effect act as the replacement for the A-Class – there's no new hatchback in Merc's development plan. Inside, expect a similar glossy black dash face to the CLA, with the same 14-inch touchscreen, plus an optional passenger display and 10-inch driver's display. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below But the bits that will really change the GLA are largely under the skin. That's because the new GLA will use Merc's new MMA architecture, which has brought the German brand's EVs right up to the cutting edge of technology. This platform features things such as an 800V architecture and a 85kWh battery that in the CLA250+ saloon is capable of over 480 miles. We don't expect the GLA to quite hit that range figure due to its higher driving position and extra drag, but it won't be far off if fitted with the same battery and electric motor combo. But this will be just one option in a range including dual-motor variants, as well as an entry-level 58.5kWh battery pack. AMG will also likely get involved with a high-performance variant of its own. If you're in the market for a new Mercedes, check out the Auto Express Buy A Car for all the latest deals. If you're not into EVs, the new GLA will also be available with a 1.5-litre four-cylinder hybrid powertrain, connected to an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission and the front wheels. A plug-in hybrid will also be added to the range later on to give buyers a wide range of options to suit their circumstances. As the final confirmed bodystyle within the MMA family, the GLA will join the CLA saloon and Shooting Brake that are on sale now, plus the new seven-seat GLB due to be revealed towards the end of the year. Did you know you can sell your car through Auto Express ? We'll help you get a great price and find a great deal on a new car, too . Find a car with the experts New electric Ford pick-up to cost an astonishing £22k New electric Ford pick-up to cost an astonishing £22k Looking for its new Model T moment, Ford USA announces new affordable EV platform, starting with new pick-up truck Car Deal of the Day: A Renault Scenic for £206 a month is an absolute steal Car Deal of the Day: A Renault Scenic for £206 a month is an absolute steal The Renault Scenic E-Tech is a great all-round electric SUV, and is our Deal of the Day for August 11 Kia XCeed to keep pace with new engines for 2026 Kia XCeed to keep pace with new engines for 2026 The XCeed joins the Picanto in receiving some trim changes and extra equipment
Irish Post
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Post
New play explores complexities of Irish culture in Harrow
A NEW play which explores the complexities of Irish culture will run at a theatre fringe festival this weekend. Blessed in Harrow will take place within the Boiler House Festival line up at Harrow Arts Centre in North London. The annual event, which was created after Greater London Authority (GLA) funding allowed for the conversion of the Centre's old boiler house into a new creative space, takes place across the month of August. 'We programme innovative and original performances every week from up-and-coming talent from Harrow and beyond,' the organisers explain. Produced by London-based Irish poet and playwright Margaret Rochford, whose roots lie in Co. Kerry, Blessed in Harrow highlights the many nuances of Irish culture through of an extensive group of characters. 'What is it that compels a group of Irish dancers, dreamers, chancers, storytellers, nurses, booksellers, strummers, musicians, plumbers, singers, poets, bellringers, ornithologists, lovers, cosmologists; all to gather in The Boiler House, to rearrange their reasons, to come and count their blessings in Harrow?' the organisers say of the play. 'Join us for an evening exploring Irish culture in Harrow,' they add. This show is part of Harrow Council's Diamond Anniversary Programme. 'We are excited to welcome various themed acts to celebrate Harrow's diverse culture, history and arts landscape for our 2025 edition," a spokesperson for Harrow Arts Centre said. For details of all Boiler House Festival performances click here.
