The phrase went viral, but Mercedes never said it officially

In recent days, a phrase attributed to Mercedes-Benz has gained traction on digital social media and websites with low editorial relevance: that gasoline engines are “a technology from a century ago.” The statement went viral precisely because it seemed definitive — and because it reportedly came from a senior executive at the brand.

Guia do Carro noted that this sentence had not been pronounced in these terms by Mercedes, nor published in this way by the major international press. But there is indeed a real fact at the origin of the story, which ended up being expanded and modified over time.

Where does this statement actually come from?

The origin of the content can be found in a report from the German portal Golem, which specializes in technology and innovation. The publication interviewed Jörg Burzer, Head of Development at Mercedes-Benz, during an event at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, Germany. In the interview, Burzer stated that:

• Electric cars represent, for him, the best concept of mobility;
• Electromobility offers greater potential for innovation, as it is a newer technology;
• Areas such as batteries, refrigeration and system integration concentrate the most relevant advances today.

The executive also recognized that combustion engines continue to evolve, but with increasingly incremental gains compared to the pace of development of electric motors.

What Golem didn’t publish

Here is the crux of the distortion, as reported by Golem:

• It does not contain the literal phrase “technology from a century ago”;
• This does not absolutely disqualify combustion engines;
• It is not specified whether Mercedes will abandon this technology.

Burzer’s comparison is technical and contextual, not a definitive statement about the end of combustion. But, in an era of total submission to algorithms, speech has been distorted. From this interview, smaller websites (including in Brazil) and social media pages began to:

• Summarize the technical comparison in punchy sentences;
• Attribute words that do not appear in the original text;
• Present the manager’s personal opinion as the official company position.

In Brazil, some of these sites transformed the content into categorical titles, without specifying that this was a broad interpretation. The result was a catchy phrase, which gained prominence on Google, but disconnected from the real context.

And what does the mainstream press say?

Reuters, the main international agency that covers Mercedes, did not publish this sentence nor did it attribute a statement of this nature to the company. According to Reuters:

• Mercedes still relies on electric vehicles as the main vector of innovation;
• The company advocates a pragmatic transition;
• Combustion engines remain in the portfolio as long as there is demand;

There is therefore no official confirmation that the brand has classified gasoline engines as outdated technology.

Why is this important

This episode illustrates an increasingly common phenomenon: technical statements become slogans, comparisons become sentences, nuances become headlines. When this happens, the electrification debate loses quality – and the reader loses context. This is why, wherever possible, Guia do Carro alerts its readers to exaggerations or distortions in headlines.

It should also be said that Guia do Carro does not consider himself, is not and does not intend to be the “owner of factual truth”. Therefore, if evidence emerges that the phrase in the headlines was indeed uttered by a senior Mercedes executive, we will make the correction without any embarrassment.