Mercedes offers consumers 'green luxury'
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Mercedes-Benz's global and China executives join guests at the Beijing auto show to promote the company's new cars. [China Daily] |
Not just small cars are the solution to help create an energy-saving society. Big displacement cars, even luxury sedans, are now devoting themselves to fuel-efficient and emission-free mobility.
At the ongoing Beijing auto show, which is presenting 990 international and domestic models to visitors with the slogan "For greener tomorrow", nearly all global premium car brands highlight green technologies.
According to a recent survey by Ernst & Young's Global Automotive Center, 60 percent of 1,000 respondents in China said they would consider purchasing a hybrid or electric car in the near future, a figure nearly five times higher than similar surveys in Japan and the US.
Mike Hanley, leader of the center, said the result should be comforting news for automakers planning to release electric vehicles on the market late this year and early 2011.
Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said that China is "the most promising market" for new energy vehicles, so the company will develop a new brand for the local market in cooperation with local partner BYD to produce electric cars as well as bring more of its other green vehicles to China.
'Green luxury'
The German luxury brand has continued to enrich its environmentally responsible vehicles in China with what the auto giant terms "green luxury".
Klaus Maier, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz China Ltd, said future success will hinge on offering green luxury in China.
"Our achievements in China are a direct result of not only our dedication to the market and strategic expansion of our product portfolio, but also our passion in providing cutting-edge, eco-friendly technologies to customers," he said.
"To achieve emission-free mobility, there are still many steps, from start-stop technology, mild hybrid, full hybrid, plug-in hybrid and then to pure electric. However, we at Mercedes-Benz have made a clear path to realize our dream of zero-emission mobility," said Zetsche.
Under its mature "BlueEfficiency strategy", Mercedes-Benz plans to take three clear steps - optimize internal combustion engines, achieve greater efficiency through tailored hybridization and attain emission-free driving with battery and fuel cell vehicles.
"The success of the S 400 Hybrid, which we introduced last August to China, also gives us the confidence to bring more green models here," said Maier.
Only few months after the introduction of the S 400 Hybrid, the world's first series production vehicle to feature a hybrid drive with a lithium-ion battery, Mercedes further enriched its green offering in November with the launches of three models - the E 200 CGI, E 260 CGI and E 260 CGI Coupe.
F 800 Style
While exhibiting new models with the BlueEfficiency package at the Beijing auto show - including the China-exclusive new long-wheel-base E-Class, the E-Class Cabriolet and the C-Class Estate - Mercedes is also presenting the concept vehicle F 800 Style in its Asia debut tomorrow following its global debut in Geneva.
"We are dedicated to reconciling our responsibility for the environment with practical customer utility in a fascinating automobile," said Thomas Weber, the Daimler Board of Management member responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development.
"The new F 800 Style research vehicle combines this commitment to providing the leading innovative drive concepts with our traditional Mercedes strengths in the areas of design, safety, comfort and outstanding performance."
The concept car, which represents efficiency with elegance, offers the world's first multi-drive options for large sedans that enables the use of two alternative drive systems, either plug-in hybrid or fuel cell.
"For us, research vehicles are an investment in the future," said Weber. "The F 800 Style demonstrates the Mercedes way to make green automobiles more 'fascinating' and 'fascinating' automobiles greener."
As a plug-in hybrid, the F 800 Style combines 400 hp in power with highly efficient consumption of only 2.9 liters of fuel per 100km, which results in CO2 emissions of just 68 grams per kilometer.
"It's currently our most powerful and most economical hybrid," said Weber.
When powered with the fuel cell, the F 800 Style - indicated by its F designation - "is the first electric car with a fuel cell and rear-wheel drive, but has zero emissions," said Weber.
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