In 2026, Mercedes will give the current-generation S-Class a mid-cycle update. Earlier this year, CEO Ola Källenius revealed the luxury brand has “invested a lot more in the model update of the new combustion engine S-Class than we normally spend on a facelift.” Looking ahead, traditionalists will be glad to hear the next iteration of Stuttgart’s flagship is still going to have conventional powertrains.
The Mercedes boss chatted with Britain’s Autocar magazine about the duality of the S-Class. He reiterated that an electric namesake model is planned as a replacement for the odd-looking EQS. The gas model is sticking around for the long term and will remain on a platform developed for vehicles with combustion engines. Despite sharing the name, the EV variant won’t be an equivalent since it’ll sit on a dedicated architecture.
Källenius said the company’s range topper is “the best-packaged car in the world” and that forcing ICE and EV versions to share the platform would be a compromise Mercedes isn’t willing to make. Putting a gas engine into the electric S-Class would mean sacrificing space inside the lavish cabin, which customers would have a hard time accepting. Doing it the other way around would also not work since the engineers would have to make packaging concessions.
The head honcho recognized it’ll be a costly endeavor to have distinct S-Class models, but Mercedes will try to keep the extra investment “on a manageable level.” How? By sharing as much as possible between the gas and electric vehicles to limit development costs. We should point out that archrival BMW has a different strategy since the 7 Series and i7 use the same CLAR underpinnings.
The three-pointed star has already prepared for the future by making its internal combustion engines meet the upcoming Euro 7 regulations. In the meantime, it’s one of the few automakers that still sells cars with a V-12 engine, unlike BMW. In the rarified twelve-cylinder luxury sedan segment, Bentley and Audi have dropped the W-12. Rolls-Royce will follow suit around the end of the decade when the venerable V-12 the old 7 Series used to have will be retired.
Since the current S-Class will get a facelift in a couple of years, it means the W223 won’t be retired until closer to the end of the decade. Consequently, logic tells us the W224 with gas (and maybe diesel) engines is likely to be offered until the late 2030s.
The rich mix of models with combustion engines and electric drivetrains prompts Källenius to say that “it’s going to be the best of times for Mercedes customers in the next 10 years.” BMW has no intentions of abandoning the gas 7 Series either as it will peacefully coexist with the i7.
Unlike Mercedes, which had some lofty EV goals of going fully electric by 2030 “where market conditions allow,” BMW never made such promises. It is trying to hit 50% by the end of the decade but cautions that’ll depend on customer preferences.
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