The man who heads up Mercedes-Benz says he is “confident” about both the sales and profitability of the new S-Class sedan, despite the market’s shift towards SUVs.

Ola Källenius, head of Mercedes-Benz, told CarsGuide.com.au there was still very much a place in the market for luxury sedans.

“With regard to relevance, the three-box sedan in the luxury segment remains highly relevant. I’m super happy that we have the GLS, that we now have a GLS Maybach as well, so we have an answer on the SUV side, many customers want that.

“But the three-box sedan, especially in the upper-luxury segment, seems to be very, very solid. And many customers, especially business customers, they want to have that.

“I don’t see a fundamental shift away from that luxury sedan any time soon,” the 51-year-old said.

Källenius added the S-Class remained “hugely important” to the Stuttgart-based firm.

“The S-Class needs to make a profit, as does every single car in our line-up. Whereas we absolutely love cars – they almost feel like our children – we are also cool, calculated businessmen.

“The new S-Class is not a marketing exercise as a hobby; it’s for us – from a business and profitability point of view – hugely important.

“The intelligence of an organisation is to evolve how you can create fantastic technology while at the same time, in an intelligent way, have modular structures and be able to produce several cars on the same line.

“I feel confident both about sales, but also the profitability of the car.”

Original article from Car