Mercedes-Benz vows to keep V12 alive in era of aggressive electrification

In an era of aggressive electrification of automotive powertrains, Mercedes-Benz is vowing to continue with its mammoth V12 engine. At a time when the bigger internal combustion engines are increasingly finding themselves in the endangered species category and automakers are downsizing the power mills and adding forced induction, the German luxury car brand is thinking in its own way. If the automaker is to believe, the V12 engines are still far from extinction.

Mercedes-Benz has recently announced that the V12 engines will stick around for a bit longer. Speaking about this, Markus Schäfer, Mercedes-Benz's tech boss, told Autocar UK that the company will continue to offer V12 engines. He hinted that there will be multiple V12 engines. However, the Mercedes-Benz official didn't provide any additional details, such as displacement, expected models, output, or whether it would receive hybrid technology or not.

Mercedes-Benz currently offers the V12 engine in just one model, the Mercedes-Maybach S680. The V12 onboard the Maybach is a 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged unit that makes 612 bhp. Across the industry, there are only 11 cars available in 2025 with V12 engines. The automakers like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Pagani, Aston Martin, and a few others are still manufacturing cars with V12 engines, despite the number dwindling.

Future V12s from Mercedes-Benz likely to get electrification

As the Mercedes-Benz official has hinted, if the automaker decides to continue with the V12 engine in multiple models than just the Maybach S680, there is a high chance the company will add some form of electrical assist. Also, the V12 may not be available in the European market, but in other regions around the world where the emission regulations are less stringent, like the Middle East and China.

Interestingly, China is one of the key markets for Mercedes-Benz, like many other luxury car brands. It is highly possible that Mercedes-Benz would sell bigger cars with V12 engines in the Chinese market. Besides that, the V12-powered cars may go on sale in the US as the Trump administration rolled back emissions standards there.

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