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

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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?