Mercedes-Benz launches its 140th anniversary with new models and technologies
Mercedes-Benz enters 2026 marking 140 years since the birth of the automobile. The anniversary year places equal weight on historical heritage, technological progress, and one of the most ambitious product programmes in the company’s modern history. According to the brand, the goal is clear, to connect long earned experience with innovation aimed firmly at the future.
The story began on 29 January 1886, when Carl Benz patented the motor vehicle. Soon after, Gottlieb Daimler presented his own motorised carriage. From that moment on, Mercedes-Benz became inseparable from the continuous evolution of the car, moving from early combustion engines to today’s electric drivetrains and autonomous systems.
The anniversary year opened with the world premiere of the updated S-Class on 29 January 2026. Over the following two years, Mercedes-Benz plans to introduce more than 40 new models worldwide, spanning every major segment. Each of them undergoes extensive testing and quality control before reaching series production, underlining the brand’s insistence on durability as much as novelty.
Few manufacturers can point to a list of milestones as long. Mercedes-Benz helped shape the modern car through innovations such as the safety cell, the introduction of ABS and ESP, and sustained success in Formula One. In recent years, attention increasingly shifted towards electric mobility and automated driving, supported by long distance endurance runs and large scale testing programmes.
The company believes that its accumulated knowledge remains its greatest asset. It allows Mercedes-Benz to merge tradition with cutting edge technology, while shaping a vision of personal mobility that respects the past without being constrained by it. As the anniversary celebrations begin, the message from Stuttgart is measured rather than nostalgic. Experience still matters, but only if it continues to move forward.
