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New Mercedes S-Class to launch next month

Mercedes-Benz Korea’s facelifted S-Class sedan set for sale in September. [MERCEDES-BENZ KOREA]

Mercedes-Benz Korea announced Tuesday that it will launch its upgrade of the flagship luxury S-Class sedan, including diesel models, in Korea in September.

Among the eight facelifted S-Class vehicles that will launch in Korea, two will be equipped with diesel engines.

The German auto company said the soon-to-be-launched S350d 4MATIC and S400d 4MATIC Long models will be equipped with OM656 diesel engines, a new diesel powertrain which the company created after an approximately 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion) investment.

“The OM656 engine equipped in the upcoming S-Class lineup and OM654 engine equipped in the latest E-Class lineup satisfy any type of strict environment standard and will be equipped in lower models of our brand in the coming future,” a Mercedes-Benz Korea spokesman said.

“Mercedes-Benz has been investing and will be investing in diesel engines continuously because their power and fuel efficiency cannot be neglected,” the spokesman added.

The facelifted S-Class, which was first introduced at the Shanghai Motor Show back in April, is the sixth generation and went through a partial overhaul over the last four years with advanced smart car technology and powertrain renewal.

Mercedes-Benz Korea said the upgraded smart technology includes partial autonomous driving and energizing comfort control, which automatically controls temperature and lighting in accordance to the driver’s mood. The car is also equipped with massage seats.

The new S-Class sedan will include a connected car service so that technicians can remotely check the car’s condition.

Prices start at 145.5 million won.

The latest announcement follows the Korean affiliate’s voluntary recall in July of over 110,000 diesel vehicles that are equipped with OM642 and OM651 engines.

Mercedes-Benz Korea said it is going to update emissions software equipped in the diesel-powered vehicles including the most popular E-Class sedans. It was only a day after its German headquarters announced a voluntary fix on some 3 million diesel cars in Europe. Korea’s Environment Ministry is currently looking into the issue.

“With significant improvements on current [features] and the introduction of numerous new features and functions that elevate comfort and safety to a whole new level, the S-Class remains the pioneer of automotive engineering,” said Martin Schulz, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at the Korean affiliate.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]