Mercedes-Benz's latest S-Class, the W 222, has been with us for just over a year and already it's managed to rack up more than 100,000 sales worldwide. This is the best rate of sales for any S-Class generation in its first full year on the market, and with new S-Class variants coming like the S-Class Coupe, a future convertible and long-wheelbase 'Maybach' and 'Pullman' models the records are likely to keep tumbling.
Yes, the rate of sales isn't slowing yet. Since the start of the year, Mercedes has sold 75,391 S-Classes, twice as many as in the same period a year ago (up 105.8 percent to be exact). If the W 222 is to become the best-selling S-Class of all time, it will have to amass more than 500,000 sales, which the previous generation managed to rack up during its time on the market.
China is the single biggest market, with almost one out of every two S-Classes ending up there. And China doesn't only have the most S-Class buyers, it also has the youngest: most of them are in their early 40s, which on average is 15 years younger than in the U.S. Around 35 percent of S-Classes sold in China are ordered as chauffeur vehicles.
The U.S. is the next biggest market for S-Classes, accounting for roughly a quarter of all production.