The customer always expects the best vehicle in the world,
which we already had with the last series, to get even better.
We’ve put a lot of effort into it over the last few years, in order to achieve this.
We started the development in 2014 by creating
– back then, for the future - a new architecture.
The focus of this development was to already considerate in 2014:
What does the customer want in 2020 to make the Mercedes-Benz S-Class look
like a living room, at least to some extent?
The development has changed insofar as we have many more
electronic components in the vehicle and that the topic of electrics
– as you can see from the rear-axle steering,
head-up display, 3D combination, MBUX –
is much more important than in the past.
This also heralds a new era, because we have never had so much
innovation and electrical matters in a vehicle.
Digitalisation has increased dramatically in recent years,
thus the importance has also increased extremely.
Today we digitize almost the entire vehicle,
derive component testing from it, then vehicle testing.
This means we do almost everything digitally
and take as little hardware as possible into our hands.
Despite all the measurements, you still need people as evaluators,
because we make this product for the people.
We as a group are the first customers and testers of a vehicle.
With our feeling and our senses, we judge if the vehicle is good.
When it comes to designing a test drive or determining the shape,
I think all the experience this company has in developing a car comes together.
That means, you know, - 30 degrees must be reached, heat tests have to be achieved.
Then the expertise of every single employee comes along, who says
– this is a presumed limit and I'll check that. –
This gives us an awareness of the overall vehicle we were looking for,
which then composes the Mercedes-Benz quality.
Filmed with a professional driver on a closed road. Do not attempt.
The level can be very high and sometimes you may feel
this is the limit.
That’s the moment when we're challenged all over again.
Is that really enough? Is that what makes a Mercedes-Benz S-Class?
If there are any doubts, we sit down and find a solution.
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is manufactured in a brand-new production hall because we are
introducing an original manufacturing philosophy together with the new car.
We have new processes, new workflows.
We have a networked factory, a paperless factory – a very sustainable factory.
Factory 56 took two and a half years from planning to completion.
The hall brings the opportunity to revolutionize a production
in such a way that we have asked ourselves again:
Which processes can still be digitized?
How can we further relieve the burden on employees?
How can we make this more sustainable and eco-friendly?
It all comes together in Factory 56.
A Champion’s Car is a vehicle which still has a prototype stand
but is built in a series production. The aim of the whole is
to disclose everything. Where don’t certain processes and workflows function yet?
Could the target team represent the target process in the target time?
This way, relatively early, we draw out somewhat of a test report from
a Champion’s Car and ask ourselves: Are we ready to start series production?
What particularly moved me about the project was that, with the ambition we had
and what we were striving for, sometimes we really felt short of breath:
Can we do it at this pace in this period of time?
Looking back and seeing that we succeeded with the result
is really fascinating.
What moves me is the early feedback from journalists who find the vehicle amazing.
Certainly, this fills us with pride.