Currently reading: New 2021 Mercedes S-Class to be revealed today
Hybrid-only S-Class will be unveiled with evolved styling and a tech-heavy interior, including an augmented reality HUD

Mercedes-Benz is set to unveil the new generation Mercedes Mercedes-Benz S-Class later today.

The new S-Class has been officially unveiled - see it here.

The latest version of the luxury saloon is due to debut ahead of its arrival in showrooms early next year, with a focus on technology and refinement. Mercedes has confirmed it will be the first model to be producted in the new Factory 56 hall at its Sindelfingen, Stuttgart plant.

In the run-up to the reveal, Mercedes has teased some of the technology that will feature in the new generation car, giving a first look at its augmented reality heads-up display ahead of the luxury saloon's official arrival.

A teaser video posted to Mercedes' official twitter account shows the augmented reality head-up display (AR-HUD) in action. It's been made much more powerful than in the previous Mercedes S-Class (2014-2020) and can overlay live distance indicators and navigation directions onto the windscreen. The system can detect traffic and suggest a suitable gap to keep with the car in front, using coloured bars to suggest when you're too close, while navigation instructions update constantly to direct the driver around roundabouts and when filtering between lanes. Active lane keeping assist also uses coloured indicators to suggest when not enough steering lock has been applied through a corner. 

When Mercedes recently revealed the upcoming car's interior, it comfirmed spy photos taken earlier this year that showed off a minimalist dashboard dominated by a Tesla-style portrait display - significantly larger than any screen Mercedes has offered in previous models - paired with a freestanding digital instrument display. It will feature the second-generation version of the firm's MBUX infotainment system - with fewer physical controls, five touchscreens and an array of motion-detector, sensor-operated functions. 

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The seventh-generation S-Class looks set to regain its place at the forefront of the brand's technical know-how, with a range of new electrified powertrains and advanced driver assist features. Comfort and technology levels will take a boost, with the target of lifting it beyond rivals such as the 7 Series and Audi A8.

The new Mercedes flagship, which is due in UK showrooms next year, has been developed to support two distinctly different saloon models for the first time. While standard versions are set to receive a range of plug-in hybrid drivetrains, the German car maker will also launch an aerodynamically optimised pure-electric version that will serve as the flagship model for its new EQ electric vehicle sub-brand

Badged Mercedes EQS, the new model will offer a claimed range in excess of 310 miles on the latest WLTP test cycle when it goes on sale in 2022. Plug-in hybrid versions of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class will feature part-time zero-emission capability for distances of up to 62 miles, together with the option of a newly developed 4Matic four-wheel drive system with fully variable apportioning of drive between the front and rear axles.

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The EQS forms part of Mercedes’ £9 billion programme to introduce more than 10 dedicated electric vehicles to the UK market within the next six years. 

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In a further change, it is believed that Mercedes-Benz has decided to do away with its long tradition of offering the standard S-Class, which goes under the internal codename W223, with two different wheelbases. Nothing is official at this stage, but it is understood that the growth of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class to a length of 4920mm is behind a decision to produce the new S-Class exclusively in long-wheelbase guise, with the car measuring around 5280mm in length. 

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However, while the standard S-Class sits on the MRA platform, the more technically advanced four-wheel-drive EQS will be the first Mercedes-Benz model to be based on the new Modular Electric Architecture (MEA) platform. Unlike the structures being developed to underpin smaller EQ models, it is not based on an existing platform but has been developed as dedicated EV architecture with a flat floor to house batteries.

The drivelines set to power hybrid versions of the new S-Class are based around Mercedes’ latest 3.0-litre and 2.9-litre in-line six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines and the AMG-developed 4.0-litre V8, all of which operate in combination with a disc-shaped electric motor housed within the automatic gearbox and a lithium ion battery located in the boot floor. 

The electric EQS is set to receive two electric motors – one acting on the front axle and the other driving the rear – providing permanent four-wheel drive in all variants. In the Mercedes EQC, this set-up delivers more than 400bhp and some 516lb ft, although engineers involved on the development of the EQS suggest it will offer even greater levels of power and torque, with a planned AMG performance model earmarked to produce more than 600bhp.

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Despite the differing platforms, both the standard S-Class and the EQS are set to share the same active suspension system. A development of the existing S-Class’s AirMatic+ system, it works in combination with a 48V electrical architecture and a stereo camera that scans the road ahead to adjust the spring and damper action on each wheel, allowing it to not only counteract body lean in corners but also to better control pitch. 

The EQS will adopt its own distinct styling. Reflecting the packaging advantages inherent in electric vehicles, it receives a shorter bonnet and more heavily raked windscreen than the standard version of the new S-Class, similar to that of the Mercedes-Benz CLS

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Peter Cavellini 2 September 2020

Ship ahoy!

 The first three images show a white mule turning into a compound, it looks rather barge like, as if the suspension is too soft I hope!

Peter Cavellini 16 July 2020

Mercedes.

 Just what is the definition, a sensible definition of a luxury car?, is it how near silent it is when moving?, what materials it's made from? and how many gadgets you can stuff inside?, there are so many things you could pick holes in here to say it's irrelevant, how many gadgets do you really need?, is it just one upmanship, my S-class is better than yours?, ultimately, these cars don't matter to us because we don't need them, most are Government cars or posh Hotel transfer cars, even the privately owned ones aren't driven by the owners, and I hardly believe there's the nuclear family useing an S-class as the run around choice?

Reasonable 16 July 2020

Body roll

Am I the only one surprised at how much body roll there is in the car in the pictures as it takes a gentle corner...

gagaga 16 July 2020

Reasonable wrote:

Reasonable wrote:

Am I the only one surprised at how much body roll there is in the car in the pictures as it takes a gentle corner...

Came here to ask the same - look at the dive as well, looks like they're taking it at 80mph to avoid the photographers (that are probably paid by MB in the first place ..).