Mercedes-Benz S-CLASS Marks 140 Year Legacy
Mercedes-Benz celebrates its 140-year history in 2026 by doubling down on its future. For the German carmaker, modernism translates into the tech features place below the car’s surface, designed to transform the way its most luxurious cars feel from the inside out. It’s a strategy that Chief Executive Officer Ola Källenius says has been a constant in its history. Technology is at the center of the next generation of cars and SUVs.
“If you go back to the original recipe of our founding fathers, this is so much in the DNA of the company still today,” he said in an interview. “They were inventors. They were pioneers. They were brave entrepreneurs. They pushed the boundaries of what's possible. Yes, they invented this machine that changed the world, and that is one of the core sides of the Mercedes-Benz brand promise— always push technology to the next level.”
On Jan. 28, 1886, Carl Benz filed a patent for the Motorwagen. To commemorate its founding date, Mercedes staged a fanciful, hometown reveal of the refreshed flagship sedan, the S-Class, on its big birthday. On this 140th anniversary, we traveled to Stuttgart, the world headquarters and spiritual home of Mercedes-Benz. The capital of the Badem-Württemberg is a hub for automobile manufacturing. The bucolic, hilly Schwaben city is also the home of Porsche AG and numerous automotive suppliers.
“If you go back to the original recipe of our founding fathers, this is so much in the DNA of the company still today.”
While the atmosphere was celebratory among its employees, an earnest charge toward an uncertain future underscored the mood. The auto industry is in shaky times, caused by tariffs, fluctuating government regulations, and global markets that vary greatly. Automakers are racing to be flexible, nimble, and deft at change, which is a departure from the old way of doing business. Mercedes, unlike other automakers, has consistently referenced its historic pedigree in its messaging and how it frames progress. Mercedes-Benz operates a Classic Center in Long Beach, California where the motto is, “preserving our past for enjoyment today.
We attended a workshop in Stuttgart led by a Mercedes historian about the brand’s origins that detailed the history of key figures like Benz and engineers Gottleib Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. The company shared an image of its namesake Mercédès Jellinek as a young girl. Mercédès was the daughter of automotive marketer and race car driver Emil Jellinek, who was both Jewish and Austrian. He proposed the brand name and even changed his surname to Jellinek-Mercedes after the name was trademarked. Historic Mercedes vehicles often make it to the top of the podium at judged concours events, like the 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster that won Pebble Beach in 2021. Some of its most winning concours vehicles from the 1930s overlap with its more troubling historical actions during the Nazi regime. After the war, Mercedes reinvented itself in West Germany and by the 1950s, it ushered in a new era of performance luxury cars.” Standout models include the original 1954 Gullwing, the 1960s W110 and SL 280 Pagoda models, and the first S-Class in 1972. Mercedes-Benz’s long history, like many international corporations, is a study in the twentieth century’s complexity.
Historic references carried into its evening presentation at the Mercedes-Benz Museum. The museum houses a trove of historical archives and an impressive car collection as a standalone tourist destination. Källenius, outgoing Design Chief Gorden Wagner, and brand ambassador and fan favorite Roger Federer participated in a parade of classics throughout the decades, a study in elegant, expressive design. Källenius believes this throughline carries from its past into its newest S-Class. “You see the car that Clark Gable drove in Hollywood a hundred years ago. You see that the statesmanship S-class of Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor after the war,” he said. “You see the Gullwing, which was like a UFO landing on earth when it was launched in the beginning of the 50s. You see the original SL that Lady Di drove. What is that? That is about desirability, about beauty, about something that is almost intangible, almost irrational. And this blend of innovation and technology, that is the secret sauce of Mercedes.”
In modern times, technical savvy means an S-Class equipped with generative AI that draws from large language models, an illuminated star on the hood, and a flashier light-enhanced grille. Sophisticated computational power is used in the Mercedes-Benz Operating System, cloud computing, and assisted driving options. Mercedes’ massive investment in its software division includes experimentation with robotics and everything possible to make the car bleeding edge of tech to serve its customers. That also means a partnership with the world’s most valuable tech company, Nvidia, on its autonomous driving capabilities.
While S-Class may be a standard bearer, sedans are becoming less common on American streets and more suited to the tastes of global customers. In contrast, big, bold SUVs dominate in North America. In Germany, we traveled to the nearby town Affalterbach, where the AMG performance division operates. A test engineer took us for a spin in the ultra-powerful AMG GLC 53, well suited toward US customers’ tastes. It was a snowy, slushy morning in Affalterbach, perfect to see how a performer felt confident in in climate conditions. The exhaust note added a little verve to the pedestrian trip. We could feel the power of the 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder turbo engine that produces 443 horsepower. As the appetite for EVs wanes in the US for the moment, gas and hybrid engines are back full force. In other places, like China, trends are moving in opposite direction, deeper into electrification. Mercedes has options in all categories. The range of powertrains and vehicles is part of a strategy product onslaught already in motion by Mercedes despite the headwinds of uncertainty. “We are in the midst of the biggest product launch that the company ever saw,” said Joerg Burzer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Chief Technology Officer, Development and Procurement.
To cap off its big birthday celebration, Mercedes doubled down on its ties to art and culture. Grammy-winning artist Sam Smith closed out the night with a gorgeous vocal set backed by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Smith’s signature hit, “Stay With Me” felt like a declaration to the Mercedes loyal to join the journey forward. “Won’t you stay with me?” Lush vocals and imagery of beautiful cars beckoned.