As fireworks shot skyward, an imposing gray sedan zoomed forward onto a temporary stage, delivering Alicia Keys, in a dark floor-length evening gown, to the piano where she performed with a local backup band, the Hamburg Philharmonic.

Befitting the flagship of the Mercedes line, the premiere of the new S-Class at a vast Airbus jetliner factory here on Wednesday night was a grandiose event. Always a showcase for luxury appointments, this latest incarnation of the S-Class is notable for much more than features like the so-called hot-stone massages offered by its reclining rear seats. Or the Wi-Fi. Or the cup holders that keep drinks warm or cold.

The 2014 S-Class, which goes on sale in September at an estimated starting price of $100,000, is a significant advance in the development of autonomous autos. That is, while it still requires a human behind the steering wheel, in the right conditions the car can steer itself through city traffic or drive on the highway at speeds upward of 120 miles an hour using an array of radar, infrared and optical sensors to track lane markings or the car ahead — even around curves.

“It marks the beginning of autonomous driving,” said Dieter Zetsche, chief executive of Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz.

There might be an element of hyperbole in that statement. But certainly the S-Class, which can also park itself, brake automatically to avoid hitting humans or other cars and sense when a driver is becoming fatigued, is a further evolution of systems intended to relieve some of the tedium of driving.

The optional system is analogous to the autopilots that enable airliners to carry out many of the routine tasks of flight and cruising but still require a human pilot to keep an eye on things. Future upgrades of the Mercedes S-Class will enable the car to automatically change lanes at autobahn speeds.

Along with BMW and Audi, its German luxury rivals, Mercedes is pushing technology ever closer toward a virtual chauffeur. BMW later this year plans to roll out a similar system in its i3 electric city car, and soon after in the 7 Series luxury sedan.

Most major carmakers are working on some form of self-driving capability. The 2013 Lincoln MKZ has a system that keeps the car in lane and maintains a set distance from the vehicle ahead. But unlike the Lincoln, the Mercedes is programmed to hold the car in the middle of the lane, rather than just correcting if the driver drifts out of line.

Still, German engineers are skeptical of predictions by Google engineers and others that within five years vehicles will be driving themselves from the garage to the grocery store without human intervention. It will take a decade, maybe more, to solve all the technological and legal problems, they say.

“We think we still have quite a bit of work ahead of us,” said Werner Huber, director of driver assistance technology at BMW.

It is logical that German carmakers would be leading the way toward vehicles that can drive themselves. Their well-heeled customers are willing and able to pay for a feature that would, for instance, let them check a stock portfolio online while stuck in traffic, rather than staring at the taillights ahead.

Even BMW executives are willing to admit that there are times when the company’s longtime German marketing slogan of “Freude am Fahren,” which translates to the joy of driving, doesn’t apply.

“In a lot of situations you don’t have any joy in driving,” Mr. Huber said during a recent interview in the plain brick building in Munich that houses his research team. His group includes engineers, software specialists, sensor experts and psychologists. “The joy is in being driven,” he said.

Self-driving cars might one day also offer mobility to people who are unable to drive because of age or handicaps. Google, applying its expertise in artificial intelligence, created a stir last year with a video that showed a blind man at the wheel of one of the company’s self-driving vehicles. The implication is that self-driving cars are close to reality.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/automobiles/a-benz-with-a-virtual-chauffeur.html?partner=rss&emc=rss