The past glories of vehicle assembly in Ireland met the future of automotive technology at this week’s IMI lecture evening which was hosted by Mercedes-Benz Ireland. Members of the Leinster IMI Association enjoyed a fascinating evening in the very impressive surroundings of the Motor Distributors building on Dublin’s Naas Road, finding out about the history of the site before getting an overview of the cutting edge technology packed into the latest Mercedes S-Class model.

Ciaran Kinahan, Aftersales Manager at Mercedes-Benz Ireland, explained about the history of Motor Distributors in Ireland and how from 1955 to 1977 the premises were the home of Mercedes and VW assembly lines. He also ran through the great tradition of innovation of the Mercedes marque, highlighting just some of the major technological milestones that the very first car manufacturer has been responsible for during its proud history.

Ciaran then explained how the German company remains totally focused on innovation and development with some 6000 employed in its R&D section. He then handed over to Mercedes Ireland Technical Manager, David Byrne, who explained how successive generations of the S-Class Saloon had raised the bar for automotive design and engineering over the years.

David then when on to discuss the latest innovations that appear on the new S-Class model, which was launched in November. These include the Intelligent Drive System which brings together many driver assistance and accident avoidance technologies, such as pedestrian recognition, active lane keeping assistance, blind spot assistance, and park assistance. He also highlighted the Magic Body Control system which reads the road surface and will adjust the suspension automatically to reduce the impact of speed humps, pot-holes and rough surfaces.

Those attending then got the chance to see the new S-Class first hand before concluding the evening with a tour of the Motor Distributors Museum which hoses a very special collection of rare vintage, veteran and classic cars.