Audi will have an answer for Mercedes 4-cylinder S-Class, BMW doesn’t care

Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz will roll out an S-Class sedan with a 4-cylinder engine, a first in the models 60-year history. A Mercedes-Benz USA spokesman said that the German automaker has no plans to offer the model in the United States – and that makes us pretty happy.

The 4-cylinder Mercedes-Benz S250 CDI is powered by 2.2L diesel engine making 204-hp and 369 lb-ft of torque. Stop-start technology is offered as standard and helps the S250 CDI average a fuel-economy of 5.7 liters per 100 km (41 mpg in U.S. terms) and CO2 emissions of 149 grams per km.

So will BMW and Audi have a competitor to the 4-clyinder S-Class? The short answer is BMW doesn’t really care but Audi will does.

BMW, which this year dropped the 8-cylinder in the 7-Series in favor of a 6-cylinder engine says that it isn’t planning to follow Mercedes-Benz by rolling out a 4-cylinder version of the flagship sedan.

“I like selling 7-series cars with six- and eight- cylinders,” Reithofer said at 2010 Paris Motor Show. “What we need to offer with these cars in the future is electrification.”

Audi on the other hand has plans to offer the A8 flagship sedan with a 4-cylinder gasoline engine mated to an electric-motor. The hybrid A8 is expected to debut some time in 2012, spokesman Eric Felber said.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Bloomberg