Mercedes-Benz India has launched the all-new S-Class at a starting price of Rs 2.17 crore (ex-showroom). Despite being bullish on releasing more SUVs in the wake of the recent GLA launch, Mercedes-Benz has finally pulled the trigger on the highly anticipated next-gen S-Class, with Mercedes-Benz India MD Martin Schwenk confirming that “56% of their total sales come from sedans”.
Given the S-Class’ price point, it’s a given that it doesn’t occupy the lion’s share of that percentage. It’s not a volume car, but it does showcase, time after time, the best that the world of series production automotive luxury can offer. At Rs 2.17 crore for the S400d 4Matic and Rs 2.19 crore for the S450 4Matic, the price is certainly steep given that the first lot contains completely built units (150 cars only, half of which are already booked), but Merc assures us that CKD models are on the way and will be significantly cheaper.
Often called the “best car in the world”, the S-Class is a truly remarkable feat of engineering. While the “best car” claim can be disputed, what cannot be denied is the fact that the S-Class is the best selling luxury sedan, globally and if further accolades were needed, the new one is coming-in right after winning the “World Car of The Year 2021” award. Martin Schwenk even called it a “masterpiece of the brand that expresses modern luxury for Mercedes-Benz.
What’s great about it?
From a technological standpoint, the S-Class represents the best that Mercedes-Benz has to offer. The seventh-generation S-Class is bursting with bleeding-edge technology and manages to blow its predecessor out of the water in every single aspect. For starters, the new one is longer (34mm) and wider (22mm) while also being a tad taller (+13mm). It gets rear-axle steering, advanced driver assistance systems and two 3.0-litre, in-line six engines (diesel and petrol) that make 367 hp and 330 hp respectively.
There’s rear-axle steering, which allows the driver to manoeuvre its barge-like proportions with greater ease. Merc’s 4Matic all-wheel drive system, 9-speed automatic gearbox come as standard while the E-Active body control pre-adjusts suspension ( by reading the surface and adjusting the suspension a thousand times per second).
The insides are truly bonkers
Then we come to the interiors where the differentiation really begins. There’s a large, 12.3-inch, vertically placed OLED screen, accompanied by a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, both of which along with three other screens on-board, are equipped with Merc’s second-generation MBUX system. Apart from the voice command and intuitive touch functions, the system can, according to Mercedes, respond to indirect commands. There’s even a fingerprint authentication system that allows access to individual profiles on the centre console.
This MBUX is one of the main talking points of the car. According to Merc, it’s got 50% more computing power than the previous system. There are 10 different massage settings to choose from (there are 19 motors in the front seat alone) and a new Burmester high-end 4D surround sound system with 30 loudspeakers and 8 resonators.
Presently available in the “Launch Edition” only, the S-Class gets AMG line exteriors, 20-inch alloys, seamless door handles and a rear seat MBUX entertainment system lodged in the centre console. There are also 250 individual LED units which can be deployed to create varying shades (64 of them) of ambient lighting or, through the driving assistance, deploy visual warnings. New airbags at the rear, work, according to Merc, are the world’s first frontal airbag for the rear two passengers.
Everything from its LED headlamps to the Nappa leather inside the car is of exceptional quality. It’s sleeker, fuss-free form possesses the same fluid grace that the S-Class has always possessed. No SUV can match it for its sheer grace and poise on the road.
Why does the S-Class remain a luxury benchmark?
It is possible to purchase a more luxurious car than the S-Class in the market today. And yet the S-Class remains the number one luxury sedan for its mix of technology, comfort and the sheer numbers sold globally every year. Much like the brand, the S-Class has forever remained ahead of the curve, right from the launch of the W116 - the first-ever Mercedes-Benz S-Class model, launched in 1972. The S-Class pioneered the sort of tech that trickled its way into much more affordable cars decades later. It served as a glimpse of what standard automotive luxury will look like, in the distant future. Safety features like ABS, pre-safe collision mitigation, double glazed windows – all this and so much more came from the S-Class.
To date, despite their being an equally high number of SUVs in Merc’s portfolio, it’s the S-Class that remains the brand’s technological benchmark, and the repository that contains its true DNA. From 1972, through the 90s, all the way to the present-day, the S-Class has come out of every era and remained a byword for power, grace and safety.
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