Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Etc., Europe, Mercedes-Benz, Rumormill, Diesel, Luxury



Mercedes-Benz has no interest in pursuing BMW down the diesel performance rabbit hole, according to Autocar. The publication spoke with Ola Kallenius, chairman of the board of management at Mercedes-Benz AMG, who said the company explored the idea of performance diesels in the past and found the concept too fraught with compromises to be worthwhile. Kallenius said gasoline engines have obvious advantages when it comes to weight, sound, agility and response. The AMG guru also pointed to the fact that the company's modern performance engines have borrowed considerable diesel technology, including direct injection and turbocharging, to reach their current power and efficiency levels.

In a separate report, Kallenius was quoted as saying it would be wise to grow the AMG brand after the success of the SLS AMG coupe and roadster. Rumors have indicated a machine capable of giving the Porsche 911 a run for its money around the world's race tracks may be in the cards, but Kallenius said no final decision has been made about growing the performance arm's ranks just yet. Still, the boss didn't outright nix the idea, so there's some glimmer of possibility there, however thin.Mercedes says no to hi-po diesels, may greenlight 911-fighter originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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Autoblog
02-07-2012 08:01 PM