(Bloomberg) — Mercedes-Benz AG’s revamped GLC plug-in hybrid will go twice as far in electric-only mode as its predecessor to keep pace with increasingly stringent regulations on tailpipe emissions.
The new version of Mercedes’s best-selling model can cover a distance of more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) on just the battery, the company announced Wednesday. The sport utility vehicle will only be offered as a mild or plug-in hybrid, helping the German manufacturer meet European Union emissions targets while still delivering plenty of high-end gas burners such as the G-Wagon.
“As the best-selling Mercedes-Benz model in the last two years, it is one of the most important vehicles in our product portfolio,” said Britta Seeger, Mercedes’s board member responsible for sales.
Mercedes and other automakers are relying on the profitability of bigger combustion-engine models to help fund their transition to a battery-powered future. While the company launched an all-electric version of its flagship S-Class last year, its biggest money makers typically include the G-Class and high-performance AMG models.
The manufacturer plans to pare back its suite of entry-level cars and channel more than three-quarters of its investment to higher-end vehicles. Mercedes also has pledged to spend more than 40 billion euros ($43 billion) this decade to electrify its lineup and halve greenhouse-gas emissions by the end of the decade from 2018 levels.
Mercedes hasn’t yet released a starting price for the new GLC. The current model starts at around 48,000 euros in Germany.
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