Mercedes-Benz recently unveiled the 2014 S-Class at an event in Hamburg Germany and already, photos of the new S500 sitting in a warehouse in China have hit the interwebs. The images show a black S500 at Tianjin Binhai International Airport, apparently still sitting on the pallet it shipped in.
The presence of the 2014 Mercedes S500 in China adds credence to the rumor that the Mercedes-Benz S-Class will enjoy an official launch in September at the Chengdu Auto Show.
So far, Mercedes hasn't released any official images of any of the new S-class sedans, but there's still plenty of information to absorb and gawk over prior to the car's domestic release date, likely to occur sometime before the end of the year. The German company has already disclosed that the first model to roll out from the new lineup will be the V8 S550, followed by an all-wheel drive 4Matic variant. The S63 AMG model is also expected to join its cousins sometime before year's end.
The S-class sedans' primary competition in China is the Audi A8, which outsells Mercedes by a fairly large volume. The BMW 7-series is perhaps the next most formidable competitor, although the current S-class is outselling it. Infiniti, Lexus and Jaguar are also competitors, albeit more distant ones.
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the new Mercedes S-class is slated to debut in China rather than the U.S. China represents the fastest growing auto market in the world currently and is already responsible for more car sales than the U.S. or Europe.
While the new S-class features a redesigned body, it is still very distinctly Mercedes, albeit with some new bells and whistles. The car will be constructed partially out of aluminum, which is expected to improve fuel economy and reduce weight. Additionally, the ninth-generation sedan will feature the Night View Assist PLUS system, which notifies drivers of hazards detected on the road. The vehicle's suspension has also been updated with the Magic Body Control system, which modifies suspension settings on the fly based on road conditions.
