Mercedes-Benz will again invest more money in combustion engines at the expense of EVs.
Earlier this year, the brand announced that it would postpone the arrival of its electric cars. That means that the Mercedes-Benz A-Class will not disappear for the time being, but apparently it means even more.
CEO Ola Källenius says that the brand is now convinced that the combustion engine will last well into the 2030s. He admits that the brand is spending 14 billion euros on its passenger car division this year alone and that the spending of that money has turned out differently than initially envisioned.
Mercedes invests in combustion engines
Sales of electric cars are still somewhat disappointing and expectations are too ambitious and then you have to act. So spending and investments have shifted somewhat. The brand with the star therefore spends more on combustion engines than planned.
In practice, there is still a lot of demand for conventional engines. For the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, CEO Källenius even indicates that the brand has invested much more in the model update of the S with combustion engine than they normally spend on a facelift.
Explosive engine at the highest level
Mercedes’ goal is to bring its conventional powertrains to the highest technical level. If Mercedes does not invest in combustion engines now, it will be dead for both petrol and diesel engines in 2027 or 2028.
Then the new Euro 7 regulations come into effect and the fuel engines must comply with new emission rules. These future engines will certainly also be electrified to a certain extent, but in combination with a combustion engine. So more hybrids in the line-up.
Not fully electric
Three years ago, Mercedes said that plug-in hybrids and fully electric cars would account for about 50 percent of annual sales by 2025. At one point, the company even said it would go fully electric in some countries by 2030 “where market conditions allow.”
Reality is different, so Mercedes-Benz is adjusting its targets. By the end of the decade, plug-in hybrids and electric cars should now account for half of sales, and by 2040 the brand should be CO2 neutral.
For the time being, we can still count on ICE engines for the Mercedes. We think that is basically good news for the time being!
Photos Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series via Car Whiz Spots. Spotter: @rubenpriest
