![](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxbusiness.com\/foxbusiness.com\/content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/931\/523\/Mercedes-Benz-Logo-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\"){kind=logo}
<\/picture>\nA Mercedes-Benz car emblem is covered with raindrops in Poland in April. The company announced this week that it is stepping up its transition to electric cars.<\/span> (NurPhoto \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n VOLKSWAGEN KILLS OFF PASSAT IN US TO FOCUS ON SUVS AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES<\/strong><\/p>\n The company said Thursday it foresaw half its sales as battery-only or plug-in hybrid cars by 2025, up from a quarter in previous forecasts. In the first six months of this year, such vehicles were 10.3% of total sales. The company sold 39,000 battery cars and 121,500 plug-in hybrids, which combine a battery with internal combustion.<\/p>\n The company's statement updating its electric-vehicle strategy portrayed going all-electric as a "market scenario" the company intended to be ready for, rather than as a fixed deadline for abandoning sales of diesel or gasoline cars. The company said it was "getting ready to go electric by the end of the decade, where market conditions allow."<\/p>\n In Europe, the share of electric cars is increasing, heavily driven by regulation and government incentives. Last year, electrically chargeable cars made up 10.5% of the European market.<\/p>\n PORSCHE RECALLS FLAGSHIP ELECTRIC MODEL TAYCAN OVER SOFTWARE ISSUE<\/strong><\/p>\n Mercedes said Thursday that from 2025 all newly launched vehicle architectures would be electric only, referring to mechanical structures that can be shared among different models.<\/p>\n The company has said that its model lineup will be climate neutral by 2039 throughout its chain of production, but had not specified any date for halting sales of internal combustion engines. For now, sales of highly profitable gasoline and diesel sedans and SUVs are providing the cash to invest in new technologies, such as electric cars.<\/p>\n Other carmakers, including Volkswagen's Audi, Stellantis, General Motors and Volvo, have also indicated they are moving away from gasoline and diesel engines over the long term.<\/p>\n