2016 Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG 4Matic

2016 Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG 4Matic

The automotive world can seem like a grand illustration of monkey see, monkey do.

While there are always government regulations—see turbos and hybrid systems—to consider, there's plenty of terminology and tech, like four-door "coupes," and fake engine noise, which spreads among manufactures for no good reason at all. 

So when rumors swirled that BMW announced it would unveil a water-injected M4 GTS concept at next month's Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, you might think Mercedes-Benz would answer the concept with some new information regarding its own efforts in the department of hydro-based cylinder cooling tech.

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But according to Australia's Motoring, when Mercedes-Benz board member for development Dr. Thomas Weber was asked about whether the German giant had plans for anything similar in the pipeline, he responded with a resounding "nope."

Actually, he was a bit more verbose, stating "The investment-to-result ratio to put that into production is the key question and that ratio doesn’t work.”

Whether Weber's skepticism will remain after the concept debuts remains to be seen. But anything which might bring a hardcore M4 variant stateside—elder sibling the M3 GTS never was—is OK with us.

For more coverage of the Monterey Car Week and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, head to our dedicated hub.

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