SEOUL, KOREA - A diesel hybrid vehicle that combines a diesel engine with an electric motor is set to be released in Korea. Mercedes-Benz Korea showed off its brand-new E Class at the Blue Square in Hannam-dong in Seoul, Korea, on June 24.
The New E Class is a facelift model of the E Class that features an improvement in design and safety and convenience specs. Among the new specs of the New E Class compared to its previous version are an LED head lamp and a change in the design of radiator grill.
Among existing E Class models, Benz introduced a diesel hybrid E300 BlueTEC Hybrid instead of a rear-drive E350. The E300 BlueTEC Hybrid has fuel efficiency of 23.8 km per liter on the basis of European standards. Its retail price is estimated at 81.7 million won, similar to 80.4 million won of the existing E300 Avantgarde.
The company plans to kick off the official sales of the Diesel Hybrid from August 2013. It aims to sell 6,000-7,000 units of eight New E Class models this year.
enews@hankyung.com
*Article provided by The Korea Economic Daily
