For Mercedes-Benz, protecting the environment and road safety are both number one.
The thought of demolishing 40 brand new Mercedes-Benz sedans is incomprehensible. For the German manufacturer, this is just part of the development story behind the all-new E-Class model which will make its world debut early in 2009.
The company says protecting the environment and improving automotive safety are the two key planks behind the development of the E-Class. 'We will not let up in our long-standing quest to make motoring even safer and further reduce the number of road accidents', said Dr Thomas Weber, Daimler AG Board of Management member responsible for Group Research and Development Mercedes-Benz Cars.
He added that there would also be no let-up in the drive to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. 'We afford and will continue to afford equal importance to safety and climate protection,' Dr Weber revealed. Globally, Mercedes-Benz has long been at the cutting edge of road safety – developing systems enabling drivers to avoid accidents and to enhance driver and passenger safety in impacts.
The company expects more than 12 modified or new safety systems will be introduced with both the new E-Class and S-Class models due in ’09. Expect to see items such as ATTENTION ASSIST (for detecting drowsiness), Adaptive Highbeam Assist and the PRE-SAFE?brake (an automatic emergency braking system).
Typically many real world accidents are caused by speed, driving too close to surrounding vehicles, drowsiness and insufficient vision at night. These new Mercedes-Benz systems prevent these incidents and reduce their consequences.
And for Mercedes-Benz to perfect these systems, sometimes it crashes more than 40 new models to secure data for analysis. Government and private laboratories performing crash tests for ratings such as NCAP usually only crash one, two or three vehicles.
'For us, car safety means more than just passing statutory crash tests or crash tests specified by rating organisations. Whilst these laboratory tests are right and important for evaluating cars' impact resistance, they are merely a snap-shot of what actually happens in an accident,” explained Mr Ulrich Mellinghoff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Safety Development.
The company boldly claims the all-new E-Class will be the safest vehicle in its market segment. In terms of emissions and fuel consumption, Mercedes-Benz plans to launch the new model with new engines that feature intelligent energy management and some other measures it is keeping secret until its debut in the first quarter of 2009.
