- A new report says Mercedes-Benz is in “advanced talks” about using engines from rival BMW
Duke University and the University of North Carolina are discussing merging their basketball programs. The two Koreas may reunite. Donald Trump and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have scheduled a pedicure together. Mercedes-Benz is in talks about using BMW engines in its cars.
Incredibly, one of those sentences may be true.
The U.K.’s Autocar reports, “Mercedes-Benz is in advanced talks about potentially using BMW’s 4-cylinder petrol engines for a wide range of future cars, as part of a radical rethink of its ICE strategy prompted by slower-than-expected take-up of its EVs.”
Citing “a Mercedes source,” the magazine claims that “the two firms are already at a high level of planning and negotiations, and an announcement on whether it will go ahead is expected before the end of the year.”
Multiple media sources have reached out for comment, but neither automaker has confirmed or denied the news.
Move Would Help Bridge to Electric Future
- Using BMW 4-cylinder engines in hybrid cars could help Mercedes keep building them longer
- Mercedes is going electric quickly overseas, but slower in the U.S.
Germany’s Manager Magazine, in a translated report, says that BMW 4-cylinder engines could appear under the hood of the next-generation CLA, GLA, GLB, C-Class, E-Class, and GLC, as well as the proposed “baby G-Wagen.”
A new, stricter set of emissions standards will come into force in the European Union next year. European automakers are spending millions developing new engines to meet the standards. Mercedes has a new 4-cylinder—the 1.5-liter found in the upcoming CLA hybrid.
However, Car and Driver reports that it is “not currently engineered for use in traditional plug-in hybrids or as a range-extender.” BMW’s 4-cylinder engines are.
Using those would save Mercedes money and allow it to more easily continue building hybrid powertrains for the U.S. market while it continues to go electric quickly overseas. The company recently adopted a new strategy that will see it build identical cars with gasoline and electric powertrains.
It’s unclear why BMW would want to help out its longtime rival. But Mercedes would surely help contribute to the BMW bottom line, and millions of Mercedes drivers might come to love engines from the company’s chief rival, like Duke fans in lighter blue.
