Mercedes reaches for the sky with new S-Class autopilot

An aircraft hangar at Airbus’s enormous assembly plant in Hamburg seems like an odd location to launch the latest luxury flagship Mercedes model. However the choice of location was pertinent to the introduction of the new S-Class, billed by the German premium brand as bringing airline luxury travel to the road.

The new car also boasts a headline-grabbing feature more commonly associated with airplanes: autopilot.

It's not the driverless car that some had predicted but it does manage to steer, brake and maintain a speed below 60km/h when following the car in front. Designed for heavy traffic situations, Head of Mercedes Dieter Zetsche explained the thinking behind the new technology. "When people say they enjoy skiing they don't mean they enjoy queuing for the ski lift. Similarly motorists may enjoy driving but they don't enjoy crawling along in heavy traffic. This new system takes that tedium away from them."

The new S-Class boasts a plethora of innovations (the press release is 120 pages long), many centred around what Mr Zetsche describes as “the six eyes and six ears” of the new car. These are the six cameras and six radars featured in the car. Included in their tasks is a camera monitoring the road ahead and constantly adjusting the suspension for the comfort of passengers.

Other features include rear seatbelts with built-in airbags, perfumed air-conditioning, 500 LEDS with seven interior lighting settings (this is one of the first cars to be sold without a single regular lightbulb), and an engine range that will feature a plug-in hybrid powertrain putting out less than 75g/km with an estimated fuel economy of just 3 l/100km (78mpg).

As with virtually every new car launched in the last five years, the new S-Class promises more cabin space, more technology and all packaged in a lighter bodyframe that means better fuel efficiency and lower emissions.

The S-Class is the Mercedes flagship, the king of the luxury executive models with a reputation as a benchmark for new motoring technology. Expectations were high that this would finally be the model to bring self-driving technology - automated steering, braking and acceleration - to the public market. Alas, while Google is road-testing self-driving cars in the US, Mercedes engineers don’t believe the infrastructure is in place to safely launch the technology onto the market at present.

The new S-Class may be in the public spotlight for now, but it’s only the latest in a host of new model launches by Mercedes between this year and next. Already we have seen a facelifted E-Class, the new A-Class and the completely new CLA coupe introductions.

The S-Class has long dominated the top end of the car market and first impressions suggest that their position is safe. However, from a financial point of view a promise to be the biggest selling premium car brand by 2020 is not going to be achieved through S-Class sales. In Ireland sales will be in the region of 60 cars in a full year, with the car arriving on Irish forecourts in September.

To achieve its 2020 vision - and to close the gap on the likes of BMW and Audi - Mercedes needs success with its larger volume smaller models. Much of that hope rests with the smaller CLA. But having a flagship that once more sets new standards in motoring innovation and technology certainly helps.