Mercedes to focus on hybrids, SUVs, autonomy

At its annual shareholder meeting in Berlin, Germany on Wednesday, Mercedes-Benz parent company, Daimler, outlined its automotive vision of the future -- one that involves self-driving cars, hybrid powertrains and more SUVs.

The past 12 months have set new records for Mercedes-Benz sales -- over 2.5 million cars were sold over the course of 2014, and in the months that have already passed in 2015, sales are already at a higher level than at the same time last year.

"The results for 2014 show that it pays to have the courage to change," said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

The change in question is making its cars feel more youthful -- new and exciting -- and therefore appealing to a new generation of owner. Last year, the company launched eight new or updated cars and the goal for 2015 is to do the same. "We will continue to keep the portfolio young with further new models," said Zetsche.

Four completely new Mercedes-Benz models (i.e., without a predecessor) will have been unveiled by the end of July and by the end of 2015, Zetsche promised the company's entire SUV range will have been overhauled with new or replacement models -- the latest of which, its Range Rover competitor, the GLE, is making its global debut at the New York Auto Show this week.

Zetsche spent plenty of time highlighting the strides the company has already made in cutting the average CO2 emissions of its entire model range -- it's been halved to 129g/km since 1995, even though the size of its fleet has grown -- but accepted that plug-in hybrid technology will have to be embraced more fully in order to continue to meet the toughest emissions standards in the immediate future.

As such the company will launch a new hybrid model variant every four months up to 2017. "This is Daimler's path towards sustainable mobility: We want to have attractive technology platforms, not austerity mobiles," explained Zetsche.

As for autonomous driving, Zetsche described it as the "future of automotive luxury." The technology, which Mercedes believes will become a reality in the next decade and will give drivers a newfound freedom to use their time on the road for other things. However, "Even when our vehicles are one day able to drive autonomously -- they won't sell themselves autonomously," said Zetsche.