Mercedes-AMG: V8 to live on for another decade

Mercedes-AMG will still offer vehicles powered by its twin-turbo V8 for at least another 10 years, despite its parent company declaring Mercedes-Benz will become an all-electric brand by 2030.

It was thought the arrival of electric models like the Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 4MATIC+ would spell the end for the German performance brand's hallowed 4.0-litre V8, and that the 602kW/1400Nm Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E-Performance plug-in hybrid V8 sedan would provide a fitting send-off, but according to AMG's boss there's still plenty of life left in the bent-eight.

Speaking to Road and Track, Mercedes-AMG CEO Philipp Schiemer denied the V8, which won't appear in the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class, was in jeopardy and said it would stick around for a decade or so.

"I think there will be a future, yes. I think for the next 10 years we will see V8s, for sure. We have a lot of customers who love their cars and I still think that we will see those people buying the cars for a long time. We have really a very high demand all over the world."

Despite confirming its longevity, Schiemer did admit that large-scale development of the V8 has been shelved and it would be electrification's role to unlock yet more power and flexibility.

Agreeing with his boss, AMG chief technical officer Jochen Hermann said: "You have this extra power [in an EV], like low-end torque which is usually more of an issue for a combustion engine. We get that instant torque, whereas, you know, on a German Autobahn… this is where the V8 engine really kicks in."

According to Hermann, AMG has only just begun scratching the surface of the full potential of its high-performance V8 plug-in hybrid powertrain.

"So, it's all these different combinations that you can have and all of these driving modes. And once the team starts playing around, they realise 'oh, we can do this, we can do that,'" Hermann said.

"I think it's the thrill we have with this new layout," Hermann added. "It's complicated, to be honest. And actually, we had a tough time to get it to a point where we could say 'OK, this is where we want it to be'. And the thing is, now having gone through all this we know there's so much more that we can do with a powertrain layout like this."