With Daimler’s head of R&D confirming that next year’s W213 E-Class will be able to park itself, Mercedes-Benz seems keen to undermine BMW’s much-hyped new 7 Series.
Of course, this technology has been in production for three years, with BYD the first to have offered it. The F3 Su Rui, a Ford Focus-sized sedan, can be moved via a remote control. The idea is to allow the driver to slide the car in and out of tight parking spaces, with the allowable distance being 10 metres at a speed of two km/h.
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The G11 and G12 7 Series is about to enter production and clearly, it’s a big threat to the S-Class. The timing is perfect, with the A8/S8 now quite old, the Porsche Panamera also past its mid-cycle peak, the Lexus close to the end of its life and the big Benz coming up for two years on the market. Quattroporte and Jaguar XJ? Neither is a true rival as sales volumes are too small. BMW is highlighting not only the 7er’s laser lights and carbonfibre/metal bodyshell matrix, but also automatic parking – the third of three features which the marketing campaign has singled out.
Was Daimler’s Thomas Weber just answering journalists’ questions on the recent GLC-Class media preview event when he spoke about the next E-Class? It’s unusual for any OEM to talk in detail about any future model, but this one won’t be revealed until March 2016, most likely at the Geneva motor show. Yet now we know that the W213 will have self-parking, and its architecture will be an evolution of MRA, as introduced by the S-Class and also used by the C-Class.
Weber also says that RHD markets are vital for the brand’s growth plans, so the mistake of building the GLK-Class in LHD form only will not be made again. That statement also applies to the next E-Class, or so it would seem: the V213 long-wheelbase sedan will be manufactured by Beijing Benz but there should also be RHD assembly at Chakan in India. Mercedes-Benz clearly sees which market could well prove to be the China of the 2020s in terms of exponential growth.
Audi is surprisingly quiet on the topic of this technology – it’s an astonishing omission from the new AU726 Q7 and the AU651 A8 isn’t due until 2017 – so for once, BMW and Benz seem better able to play the new-tech card. By the time Audi, Lexus, Porsche and others launch their next generation big four-door cars, will buyers still be willing to pay a hefty premium for parking-by-remote?
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By GlobalDataKeen to see the 7 fire itself up and park in the owner’s garage? Click here.
