After we already informed you about the news about the upcoming S-Klasse, now the boss of Mercedes-Benz has confirmed the development of two new S-Classes. The flagship is being prepared on different platforms, but with the same body. From this information we can immediately draw some other conclusions on the subject.
The Mercedes-Benz boss confirmed the development of two new S-Classes in an interview with Autocar. Ola Kalenius said: in the future there will be two S-classes - with internal combustion engines and electric. The head of Mercedes-Benz made it clear: both versions of the sedan will be identical in exterior and interior design, and the EQS model will remain in history.
With the eighth S-Class in Stuttgart, they will repeat the BMW approach that the Bavarians used with the presentation of their 7-Series in the G70 body. According to Autocar, the electric S-class is being prepared on the MB.EA Large platform, and the diesel one on the modernized MRA platform.
The decision to combine the two models comes against the background of declining sales: the production of the flagship even had to switch to single-shift mode, and on the other hand, Mercedes-Benz overestimated the growth of sales of electric cars: brand analysts predicted that in 2023 year the share of "batteries" cars will be more than 20%, but the reality turned out to be almost twice as bad.
Kalenius also confirmed that Mercedes-Benz will invest 14 billion euros in research and development in 2024, which will focus on digitalization, electromobility, but especially on modern technologies of internal combustion engines. The top manager emphasized that “DVG will always meet the highest technological standards”, otherwise the production of internal combustion engines will stop in 2027/2028.
All this suggests that the development of the eighth-generation S-Klasse with an internal combustion engine means that the E-Klasse will also retain this type of engine. The thing is that the two Mercedes-Benz models are closely related: releasing them without each other means a significant loss and increase in costs. So, most likely, the fate of the EQE is also decided and the next E-Class will also be available as both an electric car and an internal combustion engine.