Mercedes-Benz Pumping More Cash into ICE Development

Mercedes-Benz is plowing more money than it had planned into internal-combustion-engine technology as global sales of battery-electric vehicles fail to meet expectations.

German weekly business newsmagazine Wirtschaftswoche reports the automaker has pumped €14 billion ($15 billion) so far this year on its ICE-inclusive passenger cars which, of course, includes its hybrid powertrain system.

The magazine quotes Mercedes-Benz chief executive Ola Kaellenius in an interview that it had spent “much more” than it usually would on a facelift of the ICE version of its flagship S-Class, scheduled to come to market in mid-2026.

Mercedes-Benz is investing in factories and in R&D, reworking the drivetrain of its hybrid cars so that it “lasts well into the next decade,” says Kaellenius.

Reuters reports the CEO had warned investors of the slowdown in BEV uptake back in February, ditching ambitions for the brand to be fully electric by 2030, and now suggests it expects BEVs to account for only half of its sales by decade’s end.

Kaellenius tells the magazine: “Our engines will always be at the very highest technological level. Otherwise, we would suddenly stall our combustion-engine business in 2027-28.”