According to our esteemed colleagues over at Autoblog, Mercedes-Benz has plans to make the next-generation S-Class an all-hybrid model range for the US market. The only exception will be its petrol-powered AMG variants.

With the next-generation S-Class due sometime in 2012, this could be a shrewd move as Mercedes positions itself in the sights of an increasingly enviro-conscious mindset for the typical S-Class buyer in the US. It's a guilt free choice for lavish premium buyers. Furthermore, diesels aren't expected to become the hot sellers that they are in Europe anytime soon.

Right now, the only gasoline-electric hybrid on offer by Mercedes is the S400, which combines a 3.5 liter V6 engine with an electric motor. The S400 features a mild hybrid system with a very mild fuel consumption figure (7.9 liters/ 100 km or 30 mpg-US), and many critics have noted that the hybrid doesn't outperform the state-of-the-art Mercedes diesels. But Autoblog claims that the S400 is selling well in the US market, particularly in Hollywood, as celebrities look to dump their Priuses for something more in line with their social status.

We've previously reported that Mercedes-Benz was developing a new, plug-in hybrid system for the S-Class. That drivetrain would get about 80 mpg-US (3 liters/100 km) and feature CO2 emissions under 100 g/km. Mercedes also promises more powerful and more efficient engines are coming for the entire next-generation S-Class range.

 

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^??? how is this bad hybrid's have just as good performance, and 30mpg in a huge sedan is pretty nice if you ask me

 

+1. As long as they don't all come with paint jobs like that, an S-Class hybrid is A-OK with me.

 

80mpg is good!

 

I am sorry but uber sedans like this need to get about 5mpg, suck up little bunnies and squirrels while driving by, and leave a massive whole in the ozone layer while doing it

I don't want a green sedan

 

What's so cool about a gas guzzler?
We've been spoiled with $3/gallon gas in US, maybe why you reason like that.
You need to move somewhere else for a bit and experience the feeling of paying $6-7 a gallon.

 

wow ok I'm done

 

What are you, some kind of girl? I don't need no stupid hair dryer inside my engine to improve my very manly fuel consumption. I gladly pay my 8 bucks a gallon for my gas guzzling 2 tonne V8 when I go buy my power tools that I use to hammer down drywalls for the rest of the day. See, this is where you and I are different. You have cheese on your morning bagel - I have screws, gunpowder and a touch of methanol.

You don't head into a topic about Alesandria Ambrosio and go "Hay guise! Who is this hog - what's wrong with Kelly Osbourne?". Well, you do actually. But that's not the point.

 

Well for starters it's definitely cooler than a bloody hybrid. We have $10/gallon gas because we keep voting idiots into power. We should focus on getting those retards out of office instead of letting them bully our car industry into making underpowered muesli eco crapboxes. Hybridism is a farce. The world isn't going to end because of a few V8 Benzos, don't believe the hype.