STUTTGART: Mercedes is preparing to unveil its new flagship sedan later this year, and the luxury carmaker is already giving us a glimpse at the S-Class interior ahead of its world premiere in September.
The new generation of MBUX, Mercedes’ smart control and infotainment system, is among the highlights of the new S-Class.
This will make it easier not just for the driver, but all passengers to turn on and off functions with a “Hey Mercedes” request to the car’s digital assistant, the maker says.
The system, which will be called My MBUX in the future, has learned many new languages, now also masters small talk, has encyclopaedic knowledge and in many cases even goes into action without being woken up with the “Hey Mercedes” prompt.
At the same time, Mercedes says it has completely redesigned the hardware and says it has gotten rid of nearly 30 switches and buttons.
Instead, the car will see where you’re looking and respond automatically, and will know things like whether you want to adjust the right or the left wing mirror.
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While the number of switches is decreasing dramatically, the display areas are growing. Similar to Tesla, for example, a huge vertical screen now occupies the entire centre console.
In the rear there’s a separate touchscreen for each passenger and a removable tablet for controls.
Meanwhile there’s also a 3D effect in the cockpit for the driver, who will be able to see information appearing at various distances, like the backdrops on a theatre stage.
You’ll also be able to get the latest generation of the head-up display on request. This adds larger projections that will hover much closer to the road at further distances. It also offers a dynamic display for augmented reality content.
Turn-by-turn instructions, for example, literally fly across the screen and graphically show the driver the way.
Mercedes is also making more personalisation possible. Not only are the settings and preferences of individual users stored, but drivers will be able to securely identify themselves with a pin, eye recognition or fingerprint and then make payments from the control system.
Keyword: Giant screen and 3D cockpit: A look inside the new Mercedes S-Class