The Mercedes S-Class Coupe offers supreme luxury and massive performance in a sleek package, but the £96,000 price tag even for the entry model is out of most people's reach. Mercedes now seek to remedy this with a new, lower-powered model, called the S400 Coupe.
S400 sits at the bottom of the S-Class Coupe pack, underneath the S500 and AMG-derived S63 and S65 models. In saloon form, S400 denotes a hybrid model of the S-Class (alongside the S300, also a hybrid), but in the Coupe it features a 3.0-litre petrol V6 engine. Despite its position at the bottom of the lineup, it's not short on power, producing 362bhp and 500Nm of torque - good for a dash from 0-62mph in 4.6 seconds.
The S400 Coupe is only available with Mercedes' 4MATIC four-wheel-drive system, while power is transferred through a 7-speed automatic gearbox. Equipment is predictably generous, with dual-zone climate control, LED headlights, AIRMATIC air suspension, park assist, and the COMAND multimedia system. There's likely to be a vast options catalogue, too - with highlights like the Magic Body control which leans the car into bends.
The S400 Coupe starts at 99,960 Euros in Germany, which when converted works out at around £72,500 - a significant saving over the S500, though not cheap enough to dilute the exclusivity of the car. Unfortunately Mercedes says the car won't be coming to the UK in this entry-level form, leaving us with just the expensive siblings.
Would you be tempted by entry-level luxury if this car made it to our shores? Let us know in the comments...