It was last year that Mercedes announced plans to incorporate a new system of model nomenclature centred around the core C, E and S-class. Along with new model names, the company also introduced new designations for engine types.
Mercedes has now officially started using this new naming system for its diesel models in India. Starting with the S-class, all diesel Mercs will carry a ‘d’ in the badge, instead of the ‘CDI’. Therefore, the S-class diesel is now the S 350 d, quite similar to how BMW badges its diesel cars.
While petrol cars carry no such suffix, Mercedes plans to use 'c' for CNG (previously Natural Gas Drive), ‘e’ for electric (previously Plug-in Hybrid, BlueTec Plug-In Hybrid and Electric Drive), ‘f’ for fuel cell (previously F-Cell), and ‘h’ for hybrid (previously Hybrid and BlueTec Hybrid) models.
Expect other diesel Mercs in the portfolio to get the new badging soon.