TwinCam

I just spoke to my salesman and the good news is that my car is on a ship and in transit. The bad news is that the dealer believes the US release date for the new 2021 S Class is June 1st. Has anybody else heard this? I received a promotional email from Mercedes USA yesterday touting the new S Class. I responded to the email asking when the 2021 model will be in dealerships. MB Customer Support emailed me back this morning telling me to check with my dealer. I called the dealer and they gave me the June 1 release date.

Wolfman

One of the reasons I stated that it was silly to ever call the W223 a 2021 model. That was never realistic...

TwinCam

You are right, Wolfman. At this point, Mercedes should designate the W223 model a 2022. That is what Acura did with the just released MDX, it is a 2022 model making their customers happy!

Wolfman

This is also normal for Mercedes. Our AMG E63s was introduced as a MY18. Our build date was April 17. Same with the AMG GT models; the 2016 models hit the showrooms in March 2015...

YasS

Jesse says around May or June:

DABRONX

Thats a good point, so are they releasing them in June as 21's?

When do you think they will switch the designation to 22's

It will probably be a non issue as they will be marked up in big cities and no fear of year depreciation.

ALANPRIEBE

My dealer just sent an e-mail telling me "he heard" July 1st as a release date, can anyone confirm when the actual release date is? The ship carrying my 2021 S580 is due in port (Brunswick, GA.) on June 3, 2021. Sure hate to think it will sit in the VPC for a month waiting for Mercedes to release?

TwinCam

A number of dealers have said June. My car has been in Brunswick for 3 months…not sure what that does to the tires. And then there is the salt spray and hot Georgia sun beating down on the car. Tire flat spots usually roll out in a few miles, but it may be different with run flat tires. Let’s hope delivery will be in June, they have a lot of cars sitting at the VPC’s waiting for shipment to dealers.

ALANPRIEBE

Run flats have such a hard sidewall it's hard to believe you'll get much of a flat spot in the tread area? I asked about missing computer chips, he was told there is a shortage but they were trying to supply the higher end cars first and said again S Class release in July, God I hope he is wrong?

ColeBlooded

A fleet manager told me June

Streamliner

Fletcher Jones just told me mid July!

ColeBlooded

My guess is that there's miscommunication between dealers and Mercedes. I bet June is when things start rolling along again and July is when cars start being delivered. Also depends on location.

ALANPRIEBE

My Dealer has had several of there 2021 S580's sitting at the VPC for about six weeks now because of Mercedes release date issues? My car is due to unload at the VPC in Brunswick June 3rd. I'd sure hate to think it will sit there for 4 to 6 weeks before being released and trucked out? Someone else on the forum talked to Fletcher Jones (large dealership) and they voiced the same release date as my dealer, July?

TwinCam

It will be interesting to see in what order they start shipping cars from the VPC locations in Baltimore and Brunswick once the release date is set. A number of us who placed early orders, have had our cars sitting at the VPC locations for 3 months. I had the number 4 allocation for the new S Class from my dealer, and I am hoping that Mercedes will ship out the cars based on when they received them at the VPC. I would think the dealers would want to receive the orders placed back in September as soon as possible and get them to the customers who were high on their allocation list. It will likely take a number of weeks (and a lot of trucks) to get all of the 2021 S Class cars shipped out of Baltimore and Brunswick. I am only 6 hours by truck from Brunswick, but that means nothing without a release date.

ALANPRIEBE

One would think first in first out, but that's normal thinking? It's probably going to be based on their shipping zones drop and how many cars go to a certain dealer. I'm sure it's easier (and cost effective) to have a truck fully loaded for a one stop drop compared to multiple stops? I'm about nine hours away from Brunswick! If the release date is primarily based of getting chips then it might be up for grabs, if it's something else then they should be getting trucks ordered for the release. A couple months ago the internet was active with everyone saying June 1, 2021 release (no explanation why that date). Now were hearing sometime in July? If the chip shortage is the problem it makes sense the release date is fluid. Has anyone looked at dealers inventory, it shrinking with no new cars coming in? My cousin in Nevada is interested in a Cadillac Escalade, the dealer told him they have 25 orders but because of chip shortages he may have to refund their deposit, just can't get the cars! I personally think Mercedes should be more open about the release date, especially like TwinCam waiting more months than myself, good luck everyone1.

Mikey53

My mailman says 12 Aug release. He’s probably as reliable on the subject as anyone at Mercedes! 😎

ALANPRIEBE

Boy, ain't that the truth!

js_cls

They have been sitting forever at the Baltimore port forever, just waiting to get to dealers!

Streamliner

Unless Federal certification is holding up their release, this is ridiculous. Just leaving brand new, high end cars baking in the sun and salt air. First year cars are a gamble. These photos show yet another reason to wait for year two of a new model.

TwinCam

I called the EPA’s NVFEL in Ann Arbor last week and finally reached an employee working from home. They said that they were not supposed to talk to the public. The person agreed to give me some general information and said that the 2021 S Class received its certificate of compliance many months ago, which is public information, and was not held up by the EPA. They refused to answer my additional more detailed questions. The person said that most of their people are working from home and that applications for certification are handled promptly.

TwinCam

I heard back from MBUSA Customer Care by email regarding my question on the release date. They said that the “anticipated release date” is early third quarter. They did not answer my question on why they are not shipping the 2021 S Class cars that are accumulating in large numbers at the VPC locations in Baltimore and Brunswick. So, based on their written response, it looks like sometime in July for the release date. It is hard to tell when the cars on the ground will be ready to be shipped to dealers. They may need chips installed and then software updates along with the usual prep of charging batteries and properly inflating tires. Streamliner makes a good point on waiting for year two on a new release. My contacts in China have seen a number of 2021 S Class cars on the street in Beijing, all black and no V-8’s. Any major new model “bugs” would likely be showing up in those vehicles, giving Daimler AG time to resolve any issues before the US release.

Chucky3000

Makes you wonder if anyone is turning the cars on to at the very least having oil running through the the car, etc As said correctly above, these cars are baking in the hot sun and salt air - with no oil running through the engine, etc. Maybe its folklore but I read cars shouldn't be sitting for weeks at a time without being started, etc.

Baloo588

Just got notified that my 2021 Mercedes S580 w/ amg package has been scheduled for production in July which is great cuz I thought with the chip shortage it would be pushed back to late fall.

ALANPRIEBE

Hope it works for you, you do realize they are producing cars without the computer chips? I saw or read this somewhere, they (meaning who?) believe this chip shortage will be straightened out by years end.

TwinCam

Daimler AG temporarily shut 2 plants due to the chip shortage. This article pretty well summarizes it: https://fortune.com/2021/04/23/merce...ry-car-market/. Daimler AG in a press release said that they expected some relief in the chip shortage in the 3rd and 4th quarter. Here is another article regarding the chip shortage subsiding by the end of 2021: https://europe.autonews.com/automake...h-outlook-2021