Mercedes is having to hedge its bets and develop both electric and combustion models, because global demand for EVs is running at half the level the industry originally expected. To avoid making the MMA-based range irrelevant to a large chunk of the car-buying public, the Mercedes chairman Ola Källenius said, “We will have the choice for consumers of electric vehicle, high-tech combustion and plug-in hybrid.”
The 2025 Mercedes CLA saloon will be so hi-tech that it will be “safer than an S-Class”, the brand’s boss previously told Auto Express. He also revealed that the all-new car, previewed as the pure-electric CLA concept last year, will have “world beating four-cylinder engines”.
Mercedes will keep developing its mild-hybrid four-cylinder petrol and plug-in hybrid engines, to keep them compliant with tightening European emissions regulations due in the next few years.
“It would never have made sense to cut off our combustion business in Europe in 2027 in any scenario,” he told us. “Which means [we’ll offer a] powertrain portfolio from the brand-new, hi-tech, hybridised, world-beating four-cylinder that we’re developing for the MMA platform, all the way up to the V8 that AMG customers love.”
The upcoming baby Benz may be compact but it’ll be packed with technology, introducing the all-new Mercedes Operating System (MB.OS) delivering leading-edge connected, infotainment and autonomous driving features.
