Mercedes-Benz Expands Manufaktur program and opens Customer Studio

Mercedes-Benz is ready to take customer engagement and customization a step further.

On Thursday, Mercedes opened Manufaktur Studio, while announcing customization features and product extensions for the personalization program.

The Manufaktur program is located in Sindelfingen, Germany, where Mercedes' headquarters are located, and now includes the Manufaktur studio.

Manufaktur Studio, located in the main Sinderfingen Complex, allows customers to be part of the experience. Customers can see and feel some of the vehicle customizations as the Manufaktur team builds customized components by hand.

Manufaktur Studio is divided into 4 sections, including logistics area, vehicle preparation, matrix production, and customer area.

Mercedes started the Manufaktur program in 2015, originally as the Designo Manufaktur program. The Designo designation was eventually removed. In 2021, the Manufaktur program was expanded to include the S-class, CLS-class, and AMG GT.

The wide range of programs includes everything from leather cladding and embroidery to personalization and specific trim finishes and materials. The S-class Manufaktur selection has been expanded for 2025 to include new exclusive colors (now up to 80) and other options. Customers can have tailor-made for them by widening the seat or narrowing the seat surface, or by extending the seat bottom by up to 2.0 inches.

Mercedes said it plans a similar expansion for sports cars with AMG badges. Of course, Mercedes customers can paint their cars any color they want, through which they made to measure the program.

The new PixelPaint process has also been introduced and is welcomed as a resource-saving procedure. Mercedes said the new technology applies paint directly to the body of the vehicle with increased accuracy in a manner similar to an inkjet printer.

This opens the door for more customized patterns and accuracy, including multi-colored cars, which, according to Mercedes, are now limited only by technical feasibility.

While some digitization has been adopted to speed up the build process, humans still control manufacturing and finishing. Cars and parts carts roll around the Manufaktur studio autonomously to save time. Mercedes said this allowed it to produce up to 1 vehicle in 20 days through the Manufaktur program. This helped the automaker expand the program in the first half of 2024, which accounted for 30% of the vehicles sold in the top-end segment. Mercedes did not explicitly specify which vehicle and segment.

Mercedes-Benz paid for travel and accommodation along with some German pretzels for the Motor Authority to provide this background information.