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Mercedes' push towards a more eco-friendly range of cars is in full swing, as is shown by these spy shots of the new S400 testing in Germany.
The S400 is a hybrid model that will mate a 279bhp petrol V6 to an electric engine delivering 20bhp. Official figures for the Frankfurt concept car put the combined output at 299bhp, and 277lb ft of torque.
More importantly, the addition of an electric engine brings emissions down to 190g/km, with an average consumption of 32.8mpg. Performance is st...Read the full article

An average of 32.8 and 190g/km CO2 is hardly anything to get excited about.  Buy a diesel and trounce both of those figures.

The thing is, they feel they have to respond to Lexus! For a large petrol driven car 32 mpg is pretty good.

Jon Hardcastle:

The thing is, they feel they have to respond to Lexus!

...and yet, the hybrid system concept was first introduced by Germans...also, in reply to 'majr's' comment, ouput figures like that for a petrol on a large luxury saloon are quite impressive, while I heard that Mercedes is set to launch a diesel-electric hybrid. That and the DiesOtto engine, meanwhile, will leave competitors literally in the dust.   

 

I agree - why bother with a petrol hybrid when you could do so much better with a diesel?? The hybrid lexus is nowhere near as economical as a diesel A8, 7 or s-class. Pointless.