Next Mercedes-Benz small cars to get even tinier engines

2018 Mercedes-Benz CLA-ClassNot so many years ago, a 1.2-liter engine would only have been found in the U.S. in the smallest and least impressive of subcompact cars. It might have been a 3-cylinder, and certainly wouldn't have had even 100 horsepower. But times change, and engines of that size will soon be found even in the smallest of Mercedes-Benz luxury cars. DON'T MISS...

France plans to ban all gasoline, diesel vehicles by 2040

Nicolas Hulot, French minister of ecological transition, announces 2040 ban on vehicles with enginesTo most North Americans, the idea of banning all vehicles with internal-combustion engines seems unthinkable. Filling up with gasoline (or diesel) is as American as are dispersed low-density suburbs without mass transit, bike paths, or even sidewalks. Europeans, more of whom live in cities and most of whom have access to a more balanced set of...

Diesels to lose two-thirds of current market share in 10 years: report

BMW quad-turbocharged 3.0-liter 6-cylinder diesel engineSometimes interesting predictions come buried inside a completely different topic. Take, for example, an investment note on the auto-parts supplier Continental contained in a roundup of industry research, market analysis, and news items issued yesterday by investment bank UBS. It contains the prediction that diesel engines' share of the global...

Infiniti variable-compression engine: more complexity, incremental gains

Infiniti VC-Turbo engineTo meet stricter global emissions standards, carmakers are trying to squeeze every last bit of efficiency out of internal-combustion engines. That has led Infiniti to turn to a technology engineers have toyed with for some time, one that so far hasn't been used in production cars. General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, and Saab have all experimented with...