Mercedes will halve the range of engines due to emissions and Euro 7

The imminent arrival of the next Euro 7 regulations and the general shift towards electric by the European Community has made another victim of luxury: half of the Mercedes-branded engines. The operating director of the German brand, Markus Schafe, in fact told Autocar that the range of thermal engines will be cut "by around 50%" due to the new laws. This should mean goodbye to old classics such as the V12 mounted on the armored S-Class, along with most of the V8 engines and, to come down, the other engines with too high emissions.

As with other manufacturers, the Too expensive requirements dictated by the Euro 7 standard will soon make the production of diesel and petrol cars out of the market. Although there are no definitive details yet, it is almost a given that new tools to further filter the exhaust gases and new control units will arrive. Together, they will bring the prices of combustion engine cars to similar standards to those of current electric cars, thanks to the fact that production requires more components and dedicated technology.

For all these reasons, several manufacturers have chosen the alternative route acceleration towards electricity: if you need to invest in one production process, you might as well do it for the future. On the Mercedes side, given the wide range of vehicles built each year, there will hardly be a clear transition to electricity and an immediate farewell to petrol and diesel. More likely, but it is only a hypothesis, that the German company adopts a double strategy for the United States and Europe. Since the US has less restrictive regulations, "classic" engines will continue to exist in the US for several more years.

However, this is an epochal change if we think about the importance of a brand like Mercedes and its history. Evidently, despite the protests of many manufacturers, there are no alternatives to the energy transition, nor does Brussels want to hear reasons. Who will be able to adapt faster will also be the brand that will suffer the least damage from these transformations.