Mercedes CEO: extending hybrid to all models, S400 PHEV coming next, 20-mile EV range, 2012.

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by Rybold, Oct 9, 2009.

  • by Rybold, Oct 9, 2009 at 3:39 AM
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    Even more impressive, Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler, is promising a hybrid version of each of Mercedes’s high-volume cars and a plug-in hybrid in 2012.

    “I am convinced that many customers continue to want a comfortable and spacious car. They would not like to be called callous by their neighbor because the fuel consumption is astronomic,” Zetsche said in an interview with Automotive News.

    Mercedes-Benz will trumpet the S400 hybrid in a green ad campaign beginning in early 2010. Mercedes expects the S400 hybrid to account for 10 percent of S-class sales

    More Mercedes hybrids are headed into production. A Mercedes M-class hybrid SUV, the ML450 Hybrid, with an expected fuel economy of 21/24, is scheduled to arrive by the end of this year, and hybrid gas-electric versions of the C and E classes are expected in the next year or two. When the S class is redesigned in 2012, Mercedes will launch the S500 plug-in hybrid with close to 20 miles of all-electric range, thanks to a 10 kilowatt-hour lithium battery pack.

    Mercedes is not going to stop with a plug-in hybrid. The company wants a pure electric car and fuel cell vehicle on the market in the next few years. Zetsche views all of these electric-drive technologies as a continuum. “It starts with the stop-start unit, goes from a mild hybrid to a full hybrid, and then you come to a standard where it flip-flops—electric is the main power and combustion is an add-on,” said Zetsche. “It ends with electric, be it fuel cell or battery electric.”


    Mercedes Takes Hybrid Lead Among European Carmakers | Hybrid Cars
    Rybold, Oct 9, 2009
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Comments

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by Rybold, Oct 9, 2009.

  1. patsparks
    Sounds like they are going the soft hybrid route to me.
    patsparks, Oct 9, 2009
    #2
  2. Tideland Prius
    I like the way Dr. Z thinks!

    Tideland Prius, Oct 10, 2009
    #3
  3. Rybold
    We went to Mercedes of Laguna Niguel today and they had an S400 Hybrid on the lot. So it's for real. The problem? They only had one ... and the salesman said "it's not for sale today. It's on display for now. If you are interested in buying it when we do decide to sell it, I can call you." I told him we were just looking. They only had one...and it wasn't for sale. Hmmm. Two ways to look at this: Mercedes is not very serious about hybrids, or else Mercedes is just starting to get serious about hybrids and wants to put it on display to give people an idea of what is coming in the future.
    Rybold, Oct 11, 2009
    #4
  4. bwilson4web
    What changed?

    There has been a long history of Euro skepticism about Toyota hybrids but this is a significant change. I'm just going over in my mind what might have triggered this change of heart:

    • 2010 sales - Toyota can't make them fast enough?
    • 2008 fuel prices - not related to a natural disaster?
    • USA political changes?
    Has public opinion in Europe changed and the old solutions are no longer in vogue? Maybe it is as simple as:

    Bob Wilson
    bwilson4web, Oct 11, 2009
    #5
  5. Tideland Prius
    Was it a concept or just a display model that's cycling through the dealerships?
    Tideland Prius, Oct 12, 2009
    #6
  6. PoulStaugaard
    It matches the GS450h, but still consumes twice as much as the Prius. Nothing to brag about, iMHO.
    PoulStaugaard, Oct 12, 2009
    #7
  7. Rybold
    It had a window sticker and was "for sale," $92K I think. Either the dealer owner or else Mercedes told the salesman to hold it until they get more in.
    Rybold, Oct 12, 2009
    #8
  8. Vincent
    Sounds like more babble talk from Mercedes.

    This is a car company that uses fuel efficient 4 cylinder engines in 70% of their world-wide sales, yet dumps only 6, 8 and 12 Cylinder vehicles in the USA.
    Vincent, Oct 12, 2009
    #9
  9. Tideland Prius
    That's how they make the profits, right? We buy the expensive versions to subsidize the smaller engined markets.
    Tideland Prius, Oct 13, 2009
    #10
  10. Vincent
    They're not making profits from me. I would have bought a 44MPG 4 cylinder C250 if it were available in North America. When MB decided to dump their big engines here, they lost a lot of potential customers.

    According to MB's published stats, the C250 is about as quick as the 23MPG C300, but MBNA is telling their salespeople the C250 isn't available here because American buyers don't want slow cars??

    Once again, MB has has the technology available elsewhere and by the time they make those fuel efficient cars available here, they'll be up against another phase of fuel efficient technology from Japan.
    Vincent, Oct 13, 2009
    #11
    1 people like this.
  11. Tideland Prius
    But there are plenty of AMGs around so obviously somebody somewhere is buying them.


    I think it's also brand image. For the last gen C-Class, they brought over the 1.8 litre supercharged engine (189hp I believe) to replace the 2.3 litre NA engine. In Europe, it was called the C180 Kompressor. Here, they called it the C230 Kompressor cause C180 would not do well for image (your engine's the same size as the Civic?)


    :rolleyes:
    Tideland Prius, Oct 13, 2009
    #12
  12. Rybold
    Just as Toyota created Lexus, Honda created Acura, and Nissan created Infinity, Mercedes and BMW should try the reverse concept. If the three that I just mentioned can do well with two separate markets, Mercedes and BMW should be able to do the same. That's actually what I think Mercedes had been hoping to do when it bought Chrysler, but their mistake is that they should have created their own division from scratch.

    If you look at the statistics, they only sell a few thousand AMGs per year. It's less than half of a percent and clearly a niche vehicle. It boosts their image as vehicles for the rich, powerful, privileged, etc. It does a lot of P.R. for them - in the EXACT same way that the Prius has boosted Toyota's image as the greenest car company. Taking the AMG away from Mercedes would be like taking the Prius away from Toyota. Here in SoCal, we see a lot of AMGs, but from what I understand, they are extremely rare in most of North America. You see a lot of them up there in Canada?
    Rybold, Oct 13, 2009
    #13
  13. Tideland Prius
    Except that MB and BMW started up and worked their way down.

    Lexus, Acura and Infiniti kinda started with both ends of the scale - ES250, LS400. Integra & Legend, G20 and Q45.

    Oh i know but I'm sure the few thousand is more than they sell in Europe.
    Tideland Prius, Oct 14, 2009
    #14

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