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The driving force behind the trend will be new government mandates for vehicle-to-vehicle communication technologies that improve safety and enable self-driving features.

"This skips a whole generation of S class -- it went into the future. It is 70 percent autonomous driving."

Available first on the S-class sedan as a $2,800 option, Intelligent Drive also is offered on the re-engineered 2014 E-class lineup. Much of the technology will trickle down to the redesigned 2015 C-class sedan that goes on sale in the fall. Some features are even available on the smaller B-class Electric Drive that went on sale last month.

The take rate on Intelligent Drive for the S-class sedan is 50 percent. It falls to 15 percent for the E class.

For Mercedes, having this edge is a competitive weapon in the luxury segment, where quality, gadgets and horsepower are no longer significant differentiators.

Hyundai with its new Genesis is the closest but the competition is probably three years behind

Sales of driver assistance systems could exceed 1 billion euros as early as 2016, as cars become more sophisticated and offer new business opportunities, Bosch said.

This year the company will add 9,000 university graduates from around the world to its workforce of 281,000 staff.

By 2020 Bosch plans to double its sales in Asia, North and South America

Bosch said last year its automotive business continued to grow, particularly gasoline and diesel direct-injection systems, as well as display instruments and infotainment systems.

The upcoming rollout, which will deploy the technologies by March 31, 2016, is part of Denso's drive to boost sales of sensors, the crucial eyes and ears of tomorrow's safety systems.

Cars without these features will be hard-pressed to achieve the top five-star rating. And European adoption of more stringent rules is expected to force other markets, such as the United States and Japan, to raise the bar as well.

But it trails European rivals such as Robert Bosch GmBH and Continental AG in advanced safety sensors. Denso's bread-and-butter products are drivetrain components and air conditioners.

But deployment is rapidly moving downmarket because of stricter European Union safety rules taking effect in 2015. The Euro New Car Assessment Program, or Euro NCAP, rates vehicle safety and increasingly will test for crash avoidance technologies.

The components include systems using camera-based optical sensors, millimeter wave radar and laser radar.

That is because the regulations set a baseline for sensor performance that must be met by all carmakers. And the clear specifications make it easier to develop standardized sensors. Standardization, in turn, allows for higher volume and lower costs, meaning a wider array of customers can use the same part.

The system senses if a collision is imminent, and if the driver doesn’t respond, it autonomously brakes the car at speeds up to 124 mph. It also can brake to avoid a stationary vehicle ahead and to prevent rear collisions.

The C300 all-wheel-drive goes on sale in a few weeks and will cost $41,325, including shipping.

The more powerful C400 4Matic starts at $49,515, including shipping, and also debuts later this month. It is a new model.

In the next two years, a C-class coupe, convertible and plug-in hybrid will be rolled out in the United States