I am very scared with how this thread will go, but before I posit the question, some context. I am part of many forums - Audi A8s, Range Rover, Rolls Royce, etc, but the forum I keep coming back to is the W223 forum here. Why? The views people have on here are all over the place and everyone is respectful. People can agree to disagree, and there is absolutely 0 groupthink. So, I come on here with an offering of peace before I ask this question because this group no doubt will have the answer.

The question is - what's next for the luxury segment?

If we look back 10 years in the history of Sonder-Klasse, no real improvements have been made in NVH. Yes, some improvements in say active suspensions have been made, but if we talk about the core pillars of S class - noise, vibration and harshness isolation, there have not been many improvements since the W220 with the exception of MBC/eABC. Everything else has been on things like screens, ambient lighting, sound systems (yes please!), augmented reality, assisted driving.

So there is a group of people (I'm one of them!) that complain about a million screens or the interior of a car reminding them of....adult places in the 1970s , but then constructive dissension kicks in. What more can OEMs do in order to part us from our money?

I mean, the sauce's ingredients are known. There is no reality where MB/Audi/BMW can make cars quieter than Rolls Royce, because even they have realized that they've hit a limit short of building an armored car with 9" glass or whatever. Rolls Royce is still building interiors that have no technological orgasmic qualities. So as we see Audi MB and BMW pump out techno laden interiors, maybe they're left with no choice?

I mean, they met our NVH demands in the W140 or say the W221. What more can we expect from OEMs? Maybe it's peaked and we're all now left wondering....what bag do we now hold?

 

What’s next is that carmakers tuning their lineup—including the luxury segment—to millennials and Gen Z (god help us all) while also relying on more Chinese design themes.

Right now, they’re walking a fine line between trying not to alienate the traditional luxury buyer (i.e., older), while nudging things towards the younger TikTok generation, which loves screens, gadgets, gaudy looks and things us older people could probably care less about.

 

This isn't the case. Having has a 222 and a 223, the 223 is definitely improved in NVH over the 222. Its quieter, rides better. I didn't have a 221 but I drove several of them and that car didn't appeal to me the same way the 222 did, so IMO there was improvement there too. Not a huge improvement, but its there.

One of the big challenges is that more ordinary cars have improved in that respect dramatically. When my Dad got his LS400 back in 98, that car was so dramatically better in NVH and ride than any ordinary car it was AMAZING. People would get in it and go "OMG, this car rides incredible"...nowadays people don't have that same reaction when they get in this caliber of car because everything else is so good. I'm getting ready to buy a Lexus TX500h to replace our Pacifica, and honestly driving that vehicle at $73,000 transverse FWD macpherson strut, no air suspension...it rides and drives great and is very quiet...hard to say that my car is better enough in those departments to justify it costing twice as much. Hard to say a GLS which is on paper a much better vehicle is worth $20,000 more just on ride and drive alone.

I think manufacturers are at a crossroads where they don't really know whats next, ultimately where I hope they come back to is quality. I'd rather see less screen and more quality. My only complaint about my 223 is the quality of the interior is not what it should be for the money. At this level nothing you look at or touch should look or feel cheap, and there are too many places where it looks and feels cheap. That seems to be improved in the refresh, but we will see.

 

Yes, more quality over tech.
Finishes
Lots of Interior color options other than black
More exterior color options other then the white to black gamut
Diamond stitching
Wood aluminum carbon and other 'real' materials
Supple leathers
Good smells
"Comfortable" comfort that wears nice for many years
Real buttons and surfaces that last years and are nice to touch and feel great moving
Less synthetic materials

 

Assuming the economy continues to at least sort of grow, the future is not driver involvement, is not driver centered, but less involvement. A living room on wheels, self driving heaven. Perhaps a flying car, just above the road surface.