Mercedes-Benz India discontinues S500 variant of its S-Class for Indian market

Following the launch of the S400 version of its full-sized luxury sedan the S-Class, Mercedes-Benz India has confirmed that it is discontinuing the more powerful S500 version. While the S400 and S500 are both equipped with petrol engines, the S500 uses a 4.6-litre V8 engine producing 460PS of power as opposed to the S400’s smaller, 3.0-litre V6 that offers 333PS of peak power. The S500 was the first version of the new generation S-Class to be launched in India, back in 2013. Since then Mercedes-Benz India has launched as many as nine variants of the S-Class in the country including the uber-expensive S-Guard and Maybach S600 Guard, along with the most affordable S350 CDI, which undoubtedly is the most popular thanks to its diesel engine. 

To maintain exclusivity of the more powerful V8, the engine will now be offered only in the more exclusive and obviously more expensive Maybach version of the S-Class that was launched last year. While it would barely make any difference to buyers in the segment, should you want a petrol engine equipped S-Class, the S400 costs about 16 lakh rupees lesser than the S500, despite getting the same, virtually endless feature list as its larger-engined sibling. This, in our opinion makes the S400 better value for money in case you are looking for a powerful, relatively efficient, petrol-engined Mercedes-Benz S-Class. More so, since the S400 is being assembled locally at Mercedes-Benz’s Pune plant, which has helped the German luxury car maker price the car better for the Indian market.