S-Class gives Mercedes-Benz dealers a plethora of upsell opportunities

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class dominates the large executive car segment. It accounts for one in every two cars sold in the segment in the UK and has been applauded as luxury car of the year by numerous sections of the motoring media.

Although this model is coming up to three years old, demand is still growing. Registrations in the first half of 2016 were 12.2% ahead year-on-year, at 1,855 units. Of those, 872 were in the fleet market, and 983 were retail registrations.

There are few more relaxing ways to travel than in an S-Class. Its on-board technology does its best to make journeys stress-free for the driver – massaging seats, heated steering wheel and armrests and a night-vision display that picks out pedestrians in the road ahead. The driver can even cycle the interior soft lighting through a choice of colours, and the car is so well built and insulated that the powerful turbodiesel under the bonnet is barely audible. Air suspension with adaptive damping smooths out any bumps in the road, too.

For passengers, it is even more cosseting. It’s unsurprising that the S-Class is a favoured choice of chauffeur companies and top-end hotels. The long wheelbase car we tested had an optional £5,000 individual rear seats package. These were fully adjustable, ventilated and offered enough space to seat a professional rugby player, who, if  they desired, could work out their game plan using the fold-out table or stream matches on the rear passenger entertainment system through the car’s Wi-Fi.

In all, the optional technology and luxuries boosted this car’s £71,990 standard price up to £112,500.

While some private buyers may rather put that money towards an E-Class Cabriolet as a second car of the household, it does at least illustrate the plethora of upsell opportunities that are available to the sales executive when an S-Class customer makes an appointment.