The All-Stars

THE WORLD’S MOST FAVORED PREMIERE VEHICLE BRAND launches three new premium automobiles set to raise the bar in car design, comfort, and engineering.

The New S-Class

Since its market launch in 1965, the S-Class has dominated the premiere segment and has been number one since 1965. With more than 2.7 million sedans and coupes sold, the flagship of the Mercedes Benz brand has been the perennial market leader, and the S-Class currently holds a worldwide market share of more than 36 percent. “Despite increasingly intense competition, the S-Class is the world’s best-selling luxury sedan

As in the preceding series, the new S-Class will introduce technical innovations which make the flagship Mercedes model an example for others to follow. Pioneering safety features and exemplary comfort are once again the outstanding attributes of the S-Class. The new S-Class also sets standards with its agile handling, while offering an even more effortless driving experience thanks to new, more powerful engines. It is replacing a model series which is the world No. 1 in the luxury class, with around 500,000 units sold.

For more than five decades, the letter “S” in the model designation of Mercedes cars has signified a special aura, intelligent technology and the highest quality. The new S-Class not only continues this tradition, but lends a new meaning to it. A dozen technical innovations are entering series production for the first time on board the new S-Class – from Brake Assist PLUS with radar sensors to dynamic multicontour seats with an extended massage function, from night view assist with the latest infra-red technology to the new COMAND system, and from anticipatory PRE-SAFE® occupant protection to the Active Body Control suspension system.

The new flagship model by Mercedes-Benz is larger than its predecessor in every respect. There is a choice of two body lengths – 5076 or 5206 millimeters – which is 33 and 43 millimeters more, respectively, than the previous S-Class. The wheelbase has increased by 70/80 millimeters to 3035/3165 millimeters. In addition, the body is now 16 mm wider and 29 mm higher than previously. These new dimensions create the basis for an interior space concept which offers all the passengers first-class comfort.

The New B-Class

With this new vehicle concept, Mercedes-Benz is once again asserting its role as the trendsetter among car brands and preparing the way for a young market segment with a promising future. The Sports Tourer meets the wishes of today’s motorists for a car with generous space, exemplary comfort, excellent practicality, an exciting design and a high level of driving pleasure. The new B-Class takes the advantages of different vehicle concepts and combines them into an interesting and distinctive profile of its own: as a Compact Sports Tourer, the B-Class is a touring, family and recreational vehicle with incomparable added experience value in terms of design and dynamism.

One of the major advantages of the Compact Sports Tourer is the sandwich concept developed by Mercedes-Benz. Thanks to the space-saving arrangement of the engine and transmission partly in front of and partly beneath the passenger cell, the new B-Class offers the interior spaciousness of larger saloons and estate cars despite its compact external dimensions. The body has a length of 4270 millimetres, corresponding to the compact car class. Inside, however, the new Mercedes model offers more than other cars of comparable size in this segment in all comfort-related respects, e.g. shoulder-room, legroom and headroom.

The New M-Class

The trendsetter among modern off-roaders has stepped up another gear: Mercedes-Benz presents the new M-Class. With state-of-the-art technology such as three powerful new engines, the standard-fitted seven-speed automatic transmission 7G-TRONIC, the now even more effective four-wheel drive system 4-ETS, AIRMATIC air suspension and the anticipatory occupant protection system PRE-SAFE®, the M-Class is set to reaffirm the off-roader’s leading position in a fast-growing market segment which Mercedes-Benz created with the preceding model in 1997.

You need look no further than the design of the new M-Class, with its beguiling blend of heavily contoured surfaces and taut lines, to admire the majestic character of the second-generation off-roader. The swept-back windscreen, striking front wings and rising shoulder line of the new car set the unashamedly sporting tone, a theme developed by the proportions of the body: the new M-Class is 150 mm longer (now 4780 mm), 71 mm wider (now 1911 mm) and 5 mm lower (now 1815 mm with roof rails) than its predecessor. The wheelbase has grown by 95 mm to 2915 mm.

Three of the four engines available for the 2005 model are new and outstrip the output and torque of the power units for the outgoing model to the tune of up to 38 per cent. Cutting-edge drive-system technology and impressive aerodynamics (the Cd value is down to 0.34 from the previous 0.40) combine to cut fuel consumption by as much as ten percent.