- Mercedes-Benz’s Manufaktur personalization program is growing
- Mercedes has opened a new Manufaktur Studio to enhance the customer experience
- Mercedes PixelPaint system enters production and is part of the Manufaktur Studio
Mercedes-Benz is ready to take customer involvement and customization one step further.
On Thursday, Mercedes opened the Manufaktur Studio while announcing an expansion of the personalization program’s customization capabilities and offerings.
Mercedes-Benz Manufaktur Studio
The Manufaktur program is located in Sindelfingen, Germany, where Mercedes’ headquarters are located, and now includes the Manufaktur Studio.
Located inside the main Sindelfingen complex, the Manufaktur Studio allows customers to be part of the experience. Customers can watch and feel part of the customization of their vehicles as the Manufaktur’s team hand-builds the customized components.
Mercedes-Benz Manufaktur Studio
The Manufaktur Studio is split into four sections including the logistics area, vehicle preparation, matrix production, and the customer area.
Mercedes launched the Manufaktur program back in 2015, originally as the Designo Manufaktur program. The Designo designation was eventually dropped. In 2021, the Manufaktur program expanded to include the S-Class, CLS-Class, and AMG GT.
Mercedes-Benz Manufaktur program
Mercedes-Benz Manufaktur Studio
Mercedes-Benz Manufaktur Studio
The wide-ranging program includes everything from leather cladding and embroidering to personalization and specific trim finishes or materials. The S-Class Manufaktur options have been expanded for 2025 to include new exclusive colors (now up to 80) and other options. Customers can even have their seats tailor made for them by widening or narrowing of the seating surfaces, or lengthening of the seat bottoms by up to 2.0 inches.
Mercedes said it plans a similar expansion for its AMG-badged sports cars. Of course, Mercedes customers can have their cars painted any color they want through the Made to Measure program.
Mercedes-Benz Manufaktur Studio
A new PixelPaint process has also been introduced and is hailed as a resource-saving procedure. Mercedes said the new technology applies the paint directly to the vehicle’s body with increased precision in a similar fashion as an ink jet printer.
This opens the door for more customized patterns and accuracy involving multi-colored vehicles, which is now limited only by technical feasibility, according to Mercedes.
Mercedes-Benz Manufaktur Studio
Some digitalization has been embraced to speed up the build process, but humans still control the manufacturing and finishing. Cars and parts carts roll around the Manufaktur Studio autonomously to save time. Mercedes said this has enabled it to produce up to 20 vehicles a day through the Manufaktur program. This has helped the automaker expand the program, which accounted for 30% of the vehicles it sold in its top-end segments during the first half of 2024. Mercedes didn’t specify which vehicles and segments explicitly.
Mercedes-Benz paid for travel and lodging along with some German pretzels for Motor Authority to bring you this background information.
