Mercedes-Benz Unveils Updated S-Class in South Korea, Focuses on Gas Models

Mercedes-Benz, marking the 140th anniversary of its brand, unveiled the updated “The New Mercedes-Benz S-Class” and “The New Mercedes-Maybach S-Class” in South Korea for the first time. The company said it plans to accelerate its push in the market with a broader rollout of new vehicles and changes to its sales system.
 
Mercedes-Benz presented the models and its strategy at a media briefing on April 21 at the Maybach Brand Center Seoul in Seoul’s Gangnam district.
 
The vehicles shown were the refreshed S-Class and Maybach S-Class that debuted globally in January and March, respectively. Both are facelift models and have begun sales in Germany and some other European countries.
 
Mercedes-Benz plans to launch both in South Korea in the second half of this year, with specifications expected to differ slightly from global versions. While the global lineup includes both internal-combustion and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants, the company said it will focus on selling internal-combustion models in South Korea.
 
Park Yang-won, an executive director in Mercedes-Benz Korea’s product strategy planning team, said the Maybach is “the first PHEV-applied model at the headquarters level,” but added, “Korean customers seem to want the pure performance of internal-combustion engines, so we are not considering the PHEV.”
 
Vaitl said the new launches are the start of a faster product push in South Korea. “Over the next two years, we will launch more than 40 new models (including global models),” he said. “Not only the S-Class, but across various model lineups, we want to show innovation in every segment through these new product launches.”
 
He also pointed to a revised sales system introduced this month. Mercedes-Benz Korea adopted a new vehicle sales method, “Retail of the Future (ROF),” starting April 13. Under ROF, Mercedes-Benz Korea centrally manages inventory and pricing structures that previously varied by dealer, aiming to let customers buy vehicles on the same terms at any store.
 
Vaitl said the “newly digitized” ROF system allows customers to reserve and purchase online and was introduced to expand digital interaction with customers. He added that customers can also use Mercedes Pay as part of financial services, describing the move as a policy aimed at offering the best pricing.
 
Mercedes-Benz also introduced its global 140th anniversary campaign, “140 Years of Innovation.” The campaign is a tour tied to the new S-Class that will visit six continents and 140 cities, and the Seoul event was held as part of that effort.