To comply with the current environmental law requirements, Mercedes-Benz intends to commit to its plan to add a new hybrid model each year from 2009 onwards to lay the groundwork for raising hybrid sales to 20% of its corporate total by 2015.

Aside from filling the need for compliance, this goal is also a reflection of customer demand and as a means to position the brand to continue beyond the eventual end of the combustion engine. At the recently held Frankfurt Auto Show, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche pledged that Mercedes will soon offer hybrid versions of almost every model in its lineup including the C- and E-Class. In 2009, we should expect the introduction of the brand’s first hybrids – the S400 and ML450 models. Continued after the jump!

Mercedes assures us that we can still expect high performance from its models. It is planning several new AMG models along with the new 2010 SLS AMG, says Autonews. Fans are excited to see the hydrogen-powered fuel cell B-Class, which will go on sale in the U.S. next year in a limited run of just 100 cars. A redesigned version of the C-Class is expected to come out in 2013.

Most likely, a hybrid version will be available for this C-Class as well as with the current E-Class. Due in 2011 is a redesigned CLS, which will also have a hybrid option. In 2012, Mercedes will launch a redesigned S-Class and this model will include a production version of the S500 plug-in hybrid concept. With regards to the performance models, new versions of the C-Class, CLS, SLK and SL (which will be redesigned within the next 2 years) will be offered with AMG versions. The next SLK is due next year, while a redesigned SL is due in 2011.

Tags: car news, mercedes, Mercedes-Benz, mercedes-benz hybrids, sls amg

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 11:04 pm and is filed under 2009, 4wheels News, Automakers, Categories, Hybrid cars, Mercedes-Benz, Sports cars, Worldwide, Year, Zone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.