The car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz is once again focusing more of its investments on petrol engines.

Mercedes is "once again investing more money in combustion engines than previously planned", Group CEO Ola Källenius told WirtschaftsWoche according to an advance report published on Thursday. In 2024 alone, Mercedes will invest "14 billion euros in research and development and in our plants with a focus on digitalization, electromobility and high-tech combustion technology" in the passenger car division. "A significant proportion of this will be spent in Germany, and particularly in Baden-Württemberg," Källenius told the magazine.

The manager refuted rumors that there will be no new electric S-Class. "The project is running at high speed." After all, Mercedes is still aiming to "become CO2-neutral by the end of the next decade." The car manufacturer had long stated that it was preparing to only sell purely electric models from 2030. However, due to the weakening demand for electric cars, Mercedes is preparing for a later farewell to the combustion engine.

(Report by Anneli Palmen, edited by Sabine Wollrab. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).