After the COVID-19 pandemic wave crippled India last year, the President of India’s office decided to adopt austerely measures. One part of the measures was to keep the presidential car and not upgrade it to the new Mercedes-Benz S 600 Pullman Guard. While the President of India – Ramnath Kovind was expected to receive a brand-new vehicle before the Republic Day celebrations that happened in January 2021, the new car is here just before the Independence Day celebrations on 15th August.
The single picture of the car posted on Instagram shows the brand-new Mercedes-Maybach S600 Pullman Guard. Until now, President Kovind was using the Mercedes-Maybach S600 Pullman Guard based on the W221 model. This vehicle made its debut globally in 2011 and was inducted in the presidential services when Late Pranab Mukherjee was the president of India. Even though the current vehicle still provides tank-like protection to the occupants with its VR7-level ballistic protection level, the vehicle was due for an upgrade.
The new Mercedes-Maybach S 600 Guard that just landed in India was spotted in Delhi. It seems like the car already has customisations required by the Special Protection Group or SPG that is in charge of the safety and security of the president of India.
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Mercedes-Maybach S600 Pullman Guard
The new Mercedes-Maybach S600 Pullman Guard is more than 6 metres long, which makes it longer than most other cars on the roads. It is the flagship and most expensive vehicle from the Mercedes-Maybach.
The new car is a mix of the new design and the old design and that is because Mercedes-Benz takes about 1.5 years to 2 years to deliver the car after you order it. The vehicle offers the highest level of protection, which is VR9 level. The design is of the car is such that the protection features are not visible at all. It looks like a regular car.
While Mercedes-Benz has designed the car in-house, Brabus is involved in extending the vehicle. The car gets high level armoured and even the chassis is strengthened. The vehicle gets strobes, sirens, two-way radio and a host of other features. With the new facelifted model, Mercedes-Benz has added the new intelligent LED headlamps system.
The car gets powered by a twin-turbo V12 engine that generates a maximum of 523 PS and a peak torque of 900 Nm. Since it weighs more than 5,000 kg, the top speed is restricted to 160 km/h. The doors are electrically operated since they are quite heavy.
On the inside, it gets a quilted dashboard with twin screens for the instrument cluster and the infotainment system. The rear gets four seats facing each other. The rear cabin is absolutely opulent and offers seat massagers, cup holders that can warm or cool your drinks and more.
Coming to the armour of the car, it can withstand 15kg of TNT from a distance of 2meters. Also, the windows can withstand bullets from assault rifles like AK-47. There are a lot of modifications and customisation options that go in the car but since it belongs to the president of India, these options remain a closely guarded secret.
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