Unlike GM, Mercedes-Benz isn’t crying about the cost of development when making its lineup go ‘green.’ And of course, with those profit margins, it shouldn’t. Speaking with MotorTrend, CEO Dieter Zetsche says that cost won’t stop Mercedes-Benz from offering diesels, hybrids, Diesotto and later fuel cell cars on a mass production scale.
“I hear some competitors speculating that whatever it costs to meet the targets, that will be transferred to the customer,” said Zetsche. But since this is a legal requirement in order to sell the cars, the willingness of the customer to come up with the full bill will be limited. I consider the realistic definition for the pricetag is that the [customer’s] investment has a payback as a fuel saving during the first three or four years of the vehicle’s life.”
Zetsche said that its Diesotto engine...
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