The United States Open is playing to empty stands. But no pandemic was going to stop Mercedes-Benz from unveiling its flagship luxury car on Wednesday, along with a state-of-the-art factory to build it. The S-Class dominates the high end of the luxury car market and is Mercedes’s most profitable vehicle. Cynics may regard the S-Class, which will have a base price north of $100,000 in the United States, as a land yacht for plutocrats, a discordant display of wealth amid rising unemployment and sagging growth. And it is not an electric vehicle, sales of which have climbed during the pandemic even as traditional cars have fared poorly.

Source: New York Times September 02, 2020 17:45 UTC