All-new 2020 Mercedes S-Class Says Cheese For Very First Time

Meet the first ever 2020 Mercedes S-Class prototype to be captured on camera, seemingly hiding a sleeker design underneath its heavy body cladding.

The prototype was spotted by our spy photographers after a convoy of current S-Class models drove by, alongside an Audi A8 and a BMW 7-Series. If that’s not enough to raise suspicions, we don’t know what is.

Despite the fact that there is very little information regarding the next-generation S-Class, we’ll take it step by step and tell you everything we know.

For starters, it’s likely that it will feature the German automaker’s brand new design language, which was debuted on the all-new CLS and more recently, the all-new A-Class. If you look closely at the body cladding, you will notice how the bonnet will actually taper off more towards the grille, but also how there don’t appear to be any significant creases along the profile of the vehicle.

The current S-Class has three, one running alongside the shoulder line, another just underneath the door handles, and a third one slowly bending upwards starting from just behind the front wheel arch, near the sills. Meanwhile, the headlights seem to be positioned lower than on the current car, flanking a possibly wider grille, while the taillights could very well be horizontal in nature instead of the chunky teardrop ones that we see nowadays.

Not much, if anything is known regarding the 2020 S-Class’ engine range, but we can expect a multitude of petrol and diesel units, joined by plug-in hybrid and fully electric versions either at launch, or later on at some point.

What we do know is that Mercedes now holds “the ball” when it comes to safety and connectivity tech in this sector, since the new-generation A8 is already here and BMW will only be facelifting their 7-Series in the near future. According to Mercedes R&D boss Ola Källenius, the 2020 S-Class will be the automaker’s “first Level 3 car where you can obviously have some parts of the driving experience autonomous.” Level 4 and 5 features are still a long ways away.

Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoops