At the announcement of its third quarter sales results for 2015, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia (MBM) opened up briefly about the possibility of adding more diesel models to its local range.
When quizzed about his company’s stance regarding diesel-powered vehicles, MBM vice president of sales and marketing Mark Raine explained that neither he, nor his company are afraid to launch more diesel models, and it sounded very much like the combination will be doing so very shortly.
“We are very happy with the success of the E 300 BlueTEC Hybrid, as you can tell from the results we’ve just shown you. This tells us that Malaysians are generally accepting of diesel models,” Raine said.
When asked about which specific diesel-powered models we could expect to see launched here, he responded, “as you can see, we’ve got the limousines (sedans), the Dream Cars, and in the future, as you know, we will also have the SUVs. We will be bringing diesel across all three segments.”
So far, we’ve seen MBM remain faithful to its 2.1 litre turbodiesel engine, and remember that it all started with the extensively and internally tested W204 C 220 CDI. When MBM had later announced that the 170 PS/400 Nm car had passed its quality tests in the country, it also confirmed that it would be returning diesel cars to its future line-up.
The first new diesel model launched following that announcement was the E 300 BlueTEC Hybrid, a car we know to have enjoy immense success lately, as confirmed by this morning’s press conference. Also employing a 2.1 litre mill, the E 300 BlueTEC Hybrid is capable of 204 hp and 500 Nm of torque – this excluding the additional output added by the car’s hybrid drivetrain.
Next, MBM moved in to introduced the V-Class V 220 CDI, which as we’ve shown you, packs a 2.1 litre engine that delivers 163 hp and 380 Nm of torque.
Knowing that MBM is already quite confident of its diesels in the country and has spread it across a variety of segments, it wouldn’t surprise us if its coming range of SUVs will offer diesel power.
And seeing as how the E 300 BlueTEC Hybrid has proved a major success thus far, could we see a similarly-powered S-Class variant? There is the S 300 BlueTEC Hybrid that MBM may consider, should it be in its direction to pursue a diesel-powered S-Class.
If it does come, it wouldn’t be a class first in terms of offering a four-cylinder engine, given the existing XJ L 2.0 Ti Luxury, which is powered by a 2.0 litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine.
When we asked the MBM vice president on his opinion of the S 300 BlueTEC Hybrid and how the brand’s local customers may take to a four-cylinder diesel S-Class, he said, “I think that (S 300 BlueTEC Hybrid) definitely has the potential to do well here. At the moment, we’ve put our money on the S 400 L Hybrid, which has been a very good move for us based on the success we’ve had so far. We are, however, constantly revising where we can bring additional products to our portfolio.
“When I look at it at a global level, and also a regional one, yes, I definitely think an S 300 BlueTEC Hybrid could do well here. Also, looking at other cars we have powered similarly to the engine the E 300 BlueTEC Hybrid, and it looks like the acceptance has been great,” he added.
So, which diesel Mercedes-Benz models would you be most looking forward to?
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