The scandal that has snowballed into a crap show involving Volkswagen and its diesels has now sent its first ripple throughout the automotive industry. A recent report from Autoblog indicates that Mercedes-Benz is planning to replace diesels with hybrids in the near future. According to an unnamed source, "yes, diesel is technically complex, and very expensive. The additives to reduce particulate matter are very costly. You'll see more hybrids to meet the changing regulations."

This shouldn't come as a surprise since hybrids are becoming the popular choice, but we're sure the VW diesel scandal had something to do with the decision.To make the transition from selling diesels to hybrids, Mercedes-Benz has been creating concepts, like the incredible Concept IAA, that test some sort of hybrid or plug-in hybrid setup for a few years. This news is a major hit to the industry, since the automaker has been associated with diesels in Europe since the late 1930s. Here in the US, diesels aren't that popular, so the automaker's switch to hybrids would pay off immediately. However, diesels are extremely popular in other parts of the world. So we have to ask, is Mercedes-Benz making the right decision by cutting out diesels?