We've been seeing spy shots of the 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class for a while now, but they've all been of a heavily camouflaged car with few discernible details. Thanks to recent photos of a lightly disguised car shared on Instagram and Twitter, we now have our clearest view of the next-gen S-Class yet.
The images appear to have been taken at a scrap yard and line up closely with spy shots and renders we saw last year, though many thought they were of the 2020 S-Class at the time. If the pictures are of an actual 2021 S-Class, which they almost certainly are, the new car will come sporting a heavily updated interior and a moderately restyled exterior.
Inside, a giant infotainment screen now dominates the center stack. The almost Tesla-sized display sits below the center air vents, rather than above them as in previous years, and most of the physical buttons have been removed. The driver will still get a digital cluster, but the W223-generation has the display mounted as a tablet-style screen behind the steering wheel instead of the inset screen featured in the 2020 model. The shots also appear to show a large opening behind the screen, which could be for a head-up display.
Exterior updates for the new S-Class are less dramatic. The grille is slightly larger and the headlights are a bit slimmer than the current model, both of which work together to give the new car a sleeker look up front. Around back, the chrome strip that previously only ran the width of the trunk lid now stretches from side to side above the taillights.
The V12 engine from Mercedes' current S-Class lineup is expected to remain in place for the range-topping models, while some form of hybrid or plug-in hybrid powertrain should join the lineup elsewhere. The new S-Class is also expected to pack Level 3 semi-autonomous driving features.
This leak is awfully similar to the interior renders we saw in 2019, but those were in reference to the 2020 S-Class, which, as it turned out, came with a smaller horizontal screen mounted high in the dash instead of the massive digital real estate we see here. Either way, we won't have to wait long. The new S-Class is expected to make its official debut sometime in summer 2020.
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