22 May 09 13:16
Mercedes-Benz says it is planning to introduce petrol-electric and diesel-electric hybrids to its UK range.
The German brand has already launched its S-Class 400 petrol-electric hybrid in Europe in left-hand-drive, but Dr Thomas Weber said there are plans to launch a right-hand-drive petrol-electric hybrid in the UK 'in the future'.
He told 4Car: 'Currently, 90% of our market for S-Class is for right-hand-drive petrol models so that is our priority at the moment.
'We do see hybrids as part of our future, so we do want to bring them to the UK eventually - and because 80% of sales in the UK are for diesel we are also looking to produce diesel hybrids too.'
The S400 Hybrid is the first production Mercedes to feature hybrid technology and it's the first hybrid to use a compact lithium-ion battery. It's mated to a 3.5-litre V6 engine and emits 186g of CO2/km and it'll return 35.7mpg on the combined cycle. Dr Weber stressed the Mercedes models likely to feature hybrid technology would be the C, E Class ranges as well as the S-Class.
The next model range due to for replacement would be the C-Class but Dr Weber said that Mercedes might not that wait that long to introduce hybrid technology on UK-spec cars.
'It's difficult to say when, but it'll be within five years I would think,' he added.
