Mercedes Will Keep Its Best Engines Around

For starters, the legendary V12 isn’t going anywhere. In an era where twelve-cylinder engines are basically museum pieces, Mercedes is holding onto its twin-turbo 6.0-liter powerhouse for select markets where emissions regulations will allow it.

Expect it to stay tucked under the hood of the brand's most exclusive machinery— the Maybach S680 and the armored S-Class Guard—with AMG expected to continue supplying Pagani with V12s for the Utopia hypercar. Mercedes now sadly stands as the last of the German luxury giants offering a twelve-cylinder engine.

Luckily, both BMW, Audi and Porsche are expected to keep their V8s in production for a while longer. With Mercedes' announcement, all the major German automakers have now recommitted to combustion engines.

And the good news doesn’t stop there. AMG’s next-gen lineup will still bark with a newly developed, electrified V8. Slated for the AMG.EA platform, the updated V8 will comply with the tough Euro 7 regulations and promises to deliver AMG performance while blending in electric power—BMW has successfully used electrification to keep the V8 under the hood of the M5, despite an unfortunate weight gain of 1,000 lbs from the hybrid system.

The platform, once rumored to be EV-only will now make space for combustion engines, proving Mercedes is listening to shoppers who claim sound and vibration are key attributes of total vehicle performance.

Perhaps most telling, Mercedes now predicts that EVs and plug-in hybrids will only make up 30% of its sales by 2027, while the remaining 70% will be ICE vehicles, many with mild-hybrid tech. That’s a massive departure from earlier promises of achieving a fully electric lineup by 2030.

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