Hail a taxicab, or order a limousine in Europe nowadays and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Why? Because, with the exception of the UK where the famous black taxicab still reigns supreme, you will most likely be greeted by the owner of a luxury Mercedes-Benz.

Now you shouldn't be afraid, it's not the local Mafia chieftain mistaking you for his stateside brother-in-law. It is simply a fact that nowadays, most taxicabs and limousine companies on that side of the water choose to own and operate Mercedes-Benz products.

I know that this might sound slightly strange to most North Americans, who are perhaps more accustomed to riding in ancient rickety Chevy Caprices, and might view a Mercedes as a rather expensive form of transport. However, that's just how it is over there, and there's a good reason behind this.

You see, although we may look upon the M-B brand as a purely luxury vehicle manufacturer, most Europeans know better. They realize that the famous prestigious car manufacturer is also renowned for making some of the hardest working commercial vehicles on the planet, and perhaps more relevant to my story, some of the most economical and long lasting automobiles in the world. To the taxicab or limousine owner, those last two are perhaps the most important.

Trust me, I know what I'm talking about here. Why? Because I was once a cab driver over there, and what did I drive...a Mercedes-Benz E Class.

Now I have to be honest, I owned a gas-powered version, but I was always envious of my colleagues who drove the diesel models, because they spent much less on fuel than I did, and therefore took home considerably more money.

Which brings me nicely to my review of the 2008 Mercedes-Benz E320 BLUETEC diesel sedan.

Let's be different for a change and start off with the price. Now the base model, if you can call it that, starts out at $68,100. My test vehicle had the optional premium package ($3,200), which brought the price as tested figure up to $71,300. Now this might sound a tad pricey if you planned to use the vehicle as a taxicab, but you have to bear in mind that we, North Americans, only receive the higher-end, well-appointed vehicles, and do not get the more basic models that are available in Europe.

However, what you get for your money is the wonderfully engineered DOHC 24 valve V6, which produces 210hp, and 400 lb-ft of torque. An extremely well equipped luxurious vehicle, which offers superb reliability, and with the price of fuel nowadays, perhaps most importantly, a vehicle, which returns excellent, fuel economy (9.0 / 6.1 L/100 kms).