Mercedes: “We Are Investing More In Internal Combustion Engines Than Planned”

The German Wirtschaftswoche sat down with Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius. The CEO tells the German business magazine that Mercedes-Benz is spending more on combustion engines than planned, including €14 billion this year purely on passenger cars. The money goes not only to factories but also to research and development. The CEO says that Mercedes-Benz intends to at least make its powertrains for hybrid models ‘[…] last well into the next decade’. Mercedes-Benz would also invest more money than planned in a thorough facelift of the S-class, which is planned for mid-2026.

Mercedes-Benz announced in mid-2021 its ambition to invest exclusively in EV technology by 2025. By 2030, Mercedes-Benz would sell only fully electric cars ‘where the market allows’. Earlier this year, Ola Källenius already indicated that the combustion engine would remain relevant to the brand ‘well into the 2030s’ and that it would continue to offer models with combustion engines well into the next decade. In May, it emerged that Mercedes-Benz may be reversing its ambition to introduce only new electric models in 2028 and that it has even halted the development of the MB.EA Large platform.

Nevertheless, Mercedes-Benz will definitely continue to develop electric models. There are even quite a few in the pipeline. From an electric equivalent of the C-Class and the CLA to a successor to the EQC.

• Also See: Mercedes-Benz Joins Forces With Chinese Startup Momenta To Develop The CLA EV