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Mercedes-Benz Could Cut Down Engine Variants by Half Before Euro 7 Standards

Impending Euro 7 emissions regulations in the European Union will mean many engines will be gone forever from the line-ups of automakers. Those of you who remember the introduction of the Euro 5 standard will recall that the Mazda RX-8's Wankel engine was eliminated before those were enforced, and the same happened to Honda's K20Z4 inline-four of the FN2 Civic Type R.
Mercedes-Benz M270 engine 11 photos
Photo: Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-AMG M139 on CLA45Mercedes-AMG M139 on A45M133 Mercedes-AMG EngineM133 Mercedes-AMG EngineM133 Mercedes-AMG EngineM133 Mercedes-AMG EngineM133 Mercedes-AMG EngineM133 Mercedes-AMG EngineM133 Mercedes-AMG EngineM133 Mercedes-AMG Engine
With even more stringent emissions standards planned for Europe, the yet-to-debut Euro 7 standard is next in line. The latter standard is expected to become mandatory in 2025, but do not bet on that date just yet. Mercedes-Benz will be one of the marques that will ditch some of its engines in the line-up, as will all car companies who are active in Europe.

Once Euro 7 becomes mandatory, automakers will be allowed to sell models whose engines comply with the previous version of the norm until a specific date is reached, but will not homologate new models with the old norm at one point.

How does that work? Let us use the Euro 6d emissions norm as a reference. For the European type-approval, when automakers must gain the European homologation for a new model, each new engine or variant had to be Euro 6d if its Type-approval was done after January 2020, while all new cars first registered after January 2021 had to comply with the rules.

Analysts have considered the Euro 7 norm to be the last nail in the coffin for diesel engines, which may not be offered once the new rules are enforced. Furthermore, the last naturally aspirated units without any hybrid support will also be gone once the new standard is enforced.

According to the proposed specs of the Euro 7 norm, the carbon monoxide emissions would have to drop from 1.0 grams per kilometer to a value between 0.1 and 0.3 grams per kilometer, while particulate emissions would have to drop to half of the Euro 6d’s values, which would mean a maximum of 0.030 grams per kilometer.

It is unclear today what engines will get dropped from the range after Euro 7 becomes the norm, but Markus Schäfer, Chief operating officer for Mercedes-Benz, told the Brits at Autocar that he thinks the number will go down by about fifty percent. That is his estimate, not ours, and it is just an estimate now, but it may not be too far from the truth.
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Editor's note: Mercedes-Benz M113 and M139 engines shown in the gallery for illustration purposes. The photo at the top of the story displays the Mercedes M270 engine.

About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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