The latest s-class was recently unveiled at the two Mercedes-Benz brand centers in Chai Wan and Hung Hom. Blame the pandemic for the relatively low-key launch of the brand's centerpiece. In any other year, it would be taking the spotlight on specially built stages.
But pandemic or not, the class-leading S-Class is the embodiment of the luxury of Mercedes-Benz.
The vehicle is the world's best-selling luxury sedans, and there is no sign the Stuttgart-based luxury carmaker is prepared to surrender the crown to any rivals just yet.
"With the latest generation, we want to offer our customers innovation, safety, comfort and quality as never before. It also underpins our claim to produce the best automobile in the world," said Andreas Buchenthal, president and chief executive of Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong.
"It is where covetable luxury meets the greatest possible safety and highest level of comfort," added the top executive, who assumed his current positions on November 1, after having held senior Mercedes-Benz positions in Tokyo and Beijing.
The new S-Class, which is series coded W223 internally, has a slightly bigger footprint.
Don't worry about having to make a three-point turn. The new S-Class offers the option of rear-axle steering to make the turning circle smaller by two meters.
The jury is still out on whether the new S-Class is more comfortable for its occupants compared to its predecessors.
But thanks to a longer wheelbase rear, passengers do enjoy more legroom and elbow room if their shoulder room is compromised, according to measurements provided by the company.
Few people are going to have difficulty telling the new S-Class apart from the model it replaced.
The new vehicle is given a new and more upright front grille, while the front and rear light clusters are elongated and more distinctive.
It is perhaps beyond doubt that the new style adds more than a touch of modernity to the new car.
The car's interior is not only fashionable, but digitalized too. There are five screens on board, "some with OLED technology," said Mercedes-Benz. The size of the screen set in the center of the dash is perhaps bigger than that of most people's regular tablets.
The screens, including a large head-up display with augmented reality content, form part of the new generation of Mercedes-Benz User Experience, or MBUX.
The MBUX system employs artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies to offer added comfort, convenience and safety to the car's occupants.
It is all part of the latest application of the brand's progressive innovation - owners of the new S-Class get it first, before owners of any other Mercedes-Benz models.
As far as horsepower is concerned, there are two versions for the Hong Kong market at launch.
The Mercedes-Benz S450 4MATIC (HK$1.498 million) employs a three-liter turbocharged six-cylinder mild-hybrid engine capable of producing 367PS and 500Nm respectively.
The more powerful S500 4MATIC (HK$1.998 million) uses a tuned-up version of the same engine to produce higher power output and torque of 435PS and 520Nm respectively.
As can be expected of a Mercedes-Benz flagship, the S-Class comes with a lengthy list of cost options for future owners to customize their own car.
Standard features in the S500 include the much-heralded frontal airbags for rear passengers and active ambient lighting.
Both versions of the engine are mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission and a four-wheel-drive system.
staff.reporter@singtaonewscorp.com
