Following recent trends, it is pretty evident our beloved naturally aspirated v8s or large displacement engines are ever so slowly being replaced by hybrids or fully electric motors for that matter. For the hardcore enthusiast this is an absolute nightmare. 
Big brands such as Mercedes Benz, are rumoured to have the c63 AMG v8 replaced by a four banger hybrid. This might be just as powerful or even more powerful than the outgoing version of the car but, is it really what the consumer wants? Think about it, as a fellow petrol head what would you really want from your sports car? A loud roaring v8 you could absolutely destroy on a back road or, a hybrid power train just like every other Toyota out there.
For better fuel economy, they already have quite a few plug in hybrids in their line up which aren’t half bad for the audience looking for a luxury hybrid.
The enthusiast trims such as AMG, BMW M, Audi RS are for an audience trying to have a fun weekend sporty car with a melodious v8. That is what the consumer in this segment really wants. Electric might be the future but killing the very purpose these brands are built on, which is their racing DNA is quite a let down. They should at the very least leave, a few models with the “enthusiast spec engines” as one could call it an option for the buyer. This isn’t something coming out of pure but also has quite a convincing sales per quarter to back it up. -carmaster
Carmaster weekly 