All future Mercedes models to get hybrid option

Muamer Hodzic March 14, 2007

I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about DCX and BMW working together to develop a hybrid drive system for their future models. There is more news coming out of Stuttgart from DaimlerChrysler Chairman Dieter Zetsche, who is saying that the company’s current philosophy of favoring the diesel engine over hybrid-drive technology has been overturned, citing pressure from customers.

“We won’t develop any future models without a hybrid option,” Zetsche said, adding, “We will offer our customers the right product.”

This of course was unavoidable for Mercedes, as consumers have been made to believe that hybrid technology is the future. It looks like DCX has just realized that people don’t buy what’s best for them, but what they think is best for them. Honda and Toyota have successfully changed the consumers mind and made them believe that hybrids are the future, which they possibly are.

It is not clear when the first models will hit the showroom, but some say that it could be 2 or 3 years from now, bringing it to the 2009 or 2010 model years. Mercedes approach to the hybrid industry will not be like the one from Toyota, as they will initially only offer mild hybrid, which is designed to add performance and increase fuel efficiency, but it won’t be able to purely run on the electric motor.