- Mercedes-Benz premieres an updated S-Class on January 29, 2026.
- The company plans more than 40 new models over two years.
- The expanded rollout will EVs, AMG models and more.
Mercedes-Benz is marking 140 years since the invention of the automobile with a tidy bit of symbolism: today, the brand stages the world premiere of the updated S-Class, on the same date Carl Benz filed the patent that’s widely treated as motoring’s birth certificate.
Birthday party
The new S-Class debut kicks off what Mercedes-Benz calls “the biggest product launch programme in the brand’s history”.
Over the next two years, the company says it will roll out more than 40 new models across multiple segments, spanning everything from fresh EVs to what it describes as “technological beacons”.
Mercedes-Benz frames the anniversary as proof that its history “has for 140 years known only one direction: forward”, linking early milestones like Bertha Benz’s 1888 long-distance drive to modern developments such as autonomous driving, vision cars and high-tech electric powertrains.
Big names, big claims
Mercedes has leaned heavily on its personnel to underline the scale of what’s coming. Ola Kallenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, says: “Currently underway, the biggest launch programme in the history of Mercedes-Benz is proof of this enduring commitment.”
Chief Technology Officer Dr Jörg Burzer adds: “For 140 years, we have been reinventing the automobile every day…” and points to “digital technologies, sustainable solutions and visionary ideas” as the current focus .
Sales boss Mathias Geisen ties it all back to brand feel, calling it “the unmistakable feeling of ‘Welcome home’”, and says the launch programme will bring that to “more people and more markets than ever before” .
EV milestones (and a 1000 kW tease)
Mercedes-Benz also uses the anniversary story to highlight recent and upcoming electric performance tech. It points to the Vision EQXX’s 1202 km drive on a single charge in 2022, and notes key EQXX tech is headed for series production in the new, fully electric CLA.
It also references the Concept AMG GT XX, stating its axial-flow motor setup delivers “more than 1000 kW” and a top speed “of more than 360 km/h”.
Mercedes-Benz says a road-going version is among the models due over the next two years, and that a three axial-flow motor concept will reach production in 2026 in a new electric Mercedes-AMG GT 4-door Coupé based on the AMG.EA architecture.
