The Mercedes-Benz S-Class, formerly known as Sonderklasse (German for "special class"), is a series of flagship vehicles produced by the German automaker Mercedes-Benz, a division of German company Daimler AG. The classification was officially introduced in 1972 with the W116 S-Class, which succeeded previous Mercedes-Benz models dating to the mid-1950s. The S-Class has served as the top model for Mercedes for over fifty years in its various incarnations.