Mercedes-Benz aims to be most-loved lifestyle brand

Mercedes-Benz seems to be fully embracing its repositioning as a lifestyle brand, capitalising on the transition to electric mobility and its expanding range of products and connected services. In an interview with Forbes, Daimler chief design officer and golden boy, Gorden Wagener said “I don’t see us as an automotive company so much but more of a lifestyle and luxury brand, as our work goes way beyond cars.”

“We already feature in the list of the most influential lifestyle brands and our vision, for the next 10 years, is to make Mercedes the most loved luxury brand. We know we have the potential and to do so will come from design, from creating emotion. This doesn’t just come from the products, but the ecosystem around it.”

Currently, Wagener said everything the company does for its brands – EQ, Mercedes-Benz, AMG, Maybach – is moulded under the “Sensual Purity” philosophy. “We treat this as an operating system with different interpretations of the theme for our various brands since each one stands for a very different kind of luxury,” he explained, adding that “there is a big sustainability component to all of this, as luxury has to show responsibility for the environment.”

With vehicles becoming more intelligent and modern car design increasing in complexity, Wagener said every skill plays a role in creating a product with cohesion. “We have exterior stylists, sculptors, interior designers, product designers, fashion designers for colour and trim, specialists for operational elements, steering wheels and buttons, product designers making the luxury accessories.”

“Then there are coders and digital designers creating the user experience, the systems we see on and beyond the screens. We even work with our marketing colleagues on advertising campaigns. It works a bit like an orchestra with all these elements coming together,” he added.

As for its cars, Wagener assured that the company’s Vision cars are around 80% reality, so much of what we see in the Vision concepts will be available in the production EQs. “This will include the face, which seamlessly blends the headlights and grille into one panel surface,” he said.

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