India’s largest luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz today rolled-out the all-new S-Class from the assembly lines of its state-of-art production facility in Chakan, Pune. Referred to as the ‘Best Car in the World’, the new S-Class represents fascination of the brand and redefines the automotive luxury segment with numerous human centric innovations around driver assistance, protection and interaction. Not only does the S-Class become much more intelligent, it also takes the driving experience to an altogether new level. The CKD units of the S-Class now cost Rs 55-60 lakh less than the fully imported model. The price are Rs. 1.57 crores for S 350 d which sold at Rs. 2.17 Crore as the CBU import and Rs. 1.62 crores for S 450 4MATIC that sold at Rs. 2.19 crores as CBU earlier.
The ‘Made in India’ all-new S-Class was rolled-out of the company’s assembly lines by Martin Schwenk, Managing Director and CEO, and Piyush Arora, Executive Director, Operations, Mercedes-Benz India and will be available for ordering across all Mercedes-Benz franchise partners across the country and on Mercedes-Benz India’s e-commerce channel (www.shop.mercedes-benz.co.in)
With an overwhelming response to the CBU “Launch edition” of the S-class, Mercedes-Benz now offers the Indian customers the locally manufactured version, catering to the heightened demand for the flagship. The S-Class production involves the use of latest technology and innovations at Mercedes-Benz India’s world-class production facility at Chakan, Pune. The intricate level of refinement, deployment of advanced technologies and flexible processes ensures the production quality conforms to the most rigorous global standards, and sets new benchmark for manufacturing of luxury cars in India. The new S-Class uses digitization for a car that responds empathetically to the needs and wishes of its driver and passengers. With the introduction of the new S-Class, Mercedes-Benz continues to raise the bar in design innovation, class performance and cutting-edge technology in the luxury automotive segment.
Martin Schwenk, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India commented, “Each new generation of the S-Class is always highly anticipated and sets new standard for the automotive industry to pursue.The current ‘World Luxury Car’ the new S-Class underscores Mercedes-Benz’s ambition of introducing the most desirable products with highest standards in innovation, technology, safety and comfort like never before. We are for instance, introducing for the first time, an innovative ‘car to x communication’ for the Indian market, which is tailor made for specific conditions and set a new benchmark in modern day use of telematics in cars, enhancing comfort and safety. We are in particular overwhelmed with the tremendous response to the New Generation S-Class and to cater to the increased demand, we are now commencing the local production ahead of our planning. We are confident the locally made S-Class will continue to retain its high loyalty from our discerning customers in India, having an unmatched aspirational value.”
Piyush Arora, Executive Director, Operations, Mercedes-Benz India commented, “The New S-Class is our flagship product and one of the most sophisticated modern luxury cars in Mercedes-Benz’s global portfolio. Rolling out this flagship limousine from the assembly lines in India is a matter of immense pride for our entire production team. The local production of the most advanced S-Class also calls for an equally advanced production process and adherence to stringent global quality standards. The Made in India S-Class firmly underlines the significant progress we have accomplished in advanced manufacturing and innovation in production, over the past 27 years. With the roll-out of the new S-Class we continue to offer our discerning customers world-class products made in India. For S-Class specific production, we have implemented host of new technologies and processes like augmented reality based technology used with Holo-lens for online training of operators. A special process for the wheel alignment has been created. The automatic robotic gluing ensures a quick assembly process or the use of new brake filling process guaranteeing quicker vehicle responses; we have introduced new technological innovations and advancement in the S-Class production to name a few elaborated Mr. Arora highlighting some of the key production technologies and advancements involved in the S-Class production.
Top 12 highlights of the New S-Class 350 d and 450 4MATIC:
- Seamless Door Handles: These door handles are electrically extended when the driver approaches, or the outer surface of the door handle is touched
- NTG7 MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) debuts in the new S-Class. It sets new standard as the interface between the driver, passengers and the vehicle, with five screens on board. The computing power of MBUX has increased by 50% compared to the system in the earlier generation. Additionally, the MBUX Interior voice assistant “Hey Mercedes” can be controlled from the rear seats in the new S-Class.
- OLED Head Unit: The all-new portrait OLED head unit now provides a 64% larger screen area in high resolution providing an enriched and intuitive User Interface. The car also has a redesigned new instrument cluster of 12.3”
- New Rear MBUX touch tablet in the center console in addition to the MBUX RSES
- Personalization with Mercedes me connect: Alongside the classic entry of a PIN, a new authentication method ensures a high level of security. Fingerprint and voice recognition are now combined. This allows instant access to individual profile settings the moment you get inside
- With Digital Lights you can experience ideal lighting conditions – optimally adjusted to other road users and the surrounding conditions.
- Leather interiors in new three different shades of offering in waterfall design.
- Rear massage seats functionality provide the best comfort levels and 10 different massage programs to choose from.
- Front seat kinetics are provided for tireless long drives
- The Burmester® 3D surround sound system with total output of 710 Watts. Sophisticated vehicle noise compensation (VNC) adjusts music and sound dynamically to driving conditions.
- 3-cm (19-inch) multi-twin-spoke light-alloy wheels aerodynamically optimized, painted in black with a high-sheen finish, with 255/45 R 19 tyres on 8.5J x 19 ET31.5 wheels.
- With safety always on top, the new S-Class now also has the Driving Assistance Package 5.0, latest generation the with new and improved functions
| Technical specifications: Mercedes-Benz S-Class | ||
| S 350 d 4MATIC | S 450 4MATIC | |
| Engine | OM 656, In-line 6 cylinder | M256, In-line 6 cylinder |
| Displacement | 2925 cc | 2999 cc |
| Rated output | 210 kW (286hp) at 3600-4200 rpm | 270 kW (367hp) at 5500-6100 rpm |
| Rated torque | 600 Nm at 1200-3200 rpm | 500 Nm at 1600-4500 rpm |
| Acceleration 0-100 km/h | 5.4s | 5.1s |
| Top speed | 250 km/h | |
| Length/width/height (in mm) | 5289 /1954 /1503 | |
| Wheelbase (in mm) | 3216 | |
Production highlights of the ‘Made in India, for India’ S-Class:
- More than 80 control units: More than 80 control units are electronically tested and initialized using state-of-art mobile testers in the New S-Class
- Use of ML and AI in enhancing testing systems: The diagnosis system in the S-Class is used for detecting unusual behaviour of the electronic systems with the help of well- developed algorithms that simulate customer behaviour. These algorithms are being enhanced continuously using machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques for robust testing systems
- Contactless Wheel Alignment Process: To enrich driving experience, contactless wheel alignment process is now introduced which guarantees automatic wheel alignment and ride height calibration for the AIRMATIC suspension systems. Thereby providing the customers with seamless transition between economy, comfort or sports suspensions
- New assembly process for the seamless door handles: The seamless door handles are a key attraction of the new S-Class. A completely new assembly process for seamless door handle fitment has been developed for ensuring enhanced customer comfort & aerodynamics of the car
Innovation and new technology used in New S-Class production
- Use of new generation gluing robots: A new generation of gluing robots is now used which ensures a quick assembly process in addition to ensuring air-tight joints between the glass and the metal body parts, which results in quieter cabin with superior comfort and adds to the safety
- New compact VIN engraving machine: This ensures security & easy accessibility to the customer
- Lesser NVH:New standards in drive train assembly and their marriage with the passenger cabin have been implemented for the first time, resulting in lesser vibrations and noise during driving
- New braking system:The new braking system now provides faster reaction to the press of the pedal. This has been made possible with the aid of a new technology filling system that entails vacuum based filling & testing process, which are controlled with a closed loop electronic feedback system. The subsequent dynamometer brake test simulates customer behaviour at multiple rpms and torques to ensure that the vehicle responds quickly and safely in all driving situations