Mercedes-Benz has held the world premiere for its Vision V, a limousine that features the auto maker’s scalable Van Electric Architecture which it says will “usher in a new era starting in 2026”, by reimagining large, privately positioned vans with a focus on what it terms the “Private Lounge”.
The Vision V concept car was unveiled at Auto Shanghai 2025 and offers a first look at the top-end version in this new segment, which combines generous space with exclusivity and an immersive digital experience, and uses traditional craftsmanship with technology to deliver a holistic experience with a cocooning effect.
A lounge-like interior
The Vision V introduces an open, lounge-inspired interior featuring a large, automatic “portal” door on the right-hand side with an illuminated, retractable running board. An intelligent, switchable glass partition separates the “Private Lounge” from the driver’s area and is also located in the floor slats and the windowpanes, offering customizable transparency for privacy or communication. The glass can be changed from transparent to opaque, either completely or in sections.
Traditionally crafted materials have been combined with hyper-modern, technical elements. White Nappa leather and white silk create a contrast with large decorative elements crafted from open-pore burr wood. Display cabinets, similar to an exclusive sideboard, are integrated into the dark wood trim along the side walls and framed by polished aluminum trim strips.
A game controller for racing games and one of 42 Dolby Atmos surround-sound speakers are also incorporated. Additional speakers, housed in round glass enclosures, are mounted on handmade design brackets that protrude from the side walls.
The center console between the two individual seats is a showcase of both form and function, and doubles as a display cabinet. It features a touchpad for operating the infotainment system and a fold-out table that, when extended, transforms into a chessboard. For ultimate convenience, the center console automatically adjusts to the respective seating position.
All-round ambient lighting, with strip lighting and a ceiling lamp, is designed to create an individualized and cozy living room-like environment, and a refined fragrance is housed in a polished aluminum bottle positioned behind the center console.
Seating with a futuristic design
The first-class seats are reminiscent of lounge chairs, resting on polished aluminum bases. Crafted from highly flexible tubular cushions, they feature a futuristic design with polished aluminum clasps securing the individual cushion tubes. The electrically adjustable seats can recline into a comfortable flatbed position for relaxation.
Digital experiences
The Vison V also features a retractable 65in cinema screen, with split-screen functionality, housed beneath the floor. When passengers enter and the doors close, the screen rises from a console adorned with burr wood and Nappa leather.
Passengers can watch the display through these transparent floor slats, operated via the touchpad in the center console, as the screen extends out from under the the floor and separates the Private Lounge from the cockpit.
The cinema screen delivers 4K resolution and is complemented by the Dolby Atmos surround-sound system and 42 loudspeakers, including exciters embedded in the seats, that turn music into “a haptic experience”. Seven projectors integrated into the roof liner and floor expand the visual field, while the side windows function as additional projection surfaces, to create a dynamic 360° digital experience that is further enhanced by ambient lighting that adjusts to the rhythm of the music.
Seven interactive worlds of experience
The immersive digital environment of the Vision V offers what Mercedes-Benz terms “severn worlds”. Visual and audio content form the Entertainment world, with a digital soundbar that provides an immersive music experience and a cinema screen that can be partially extended to serve as a digital interface to the soundbar. In Relax mode, a soothing landscape moves gently across the cinema screen accompanied by soft music, while passengers recline the seats. In Gaming mode, the Vision V transforms into an entertainment hub offering games such as racing simulations. The Vision V’s Work mode supports traditional office tools such as calendars and video calls, while a personal assistant structures routine tasks and prepares curated information. Shopping mode offers an interactive shopping experience with a virtual storefront. Discovery mode presents surround navigation on the 65in cinema screen using 3D game-engine graphics and augmented reality overlays to depict the vehicle’s surroundings. And Karaoke mode offers an in-vehicle karaoke bar experience.
Elevated cockpit technology
The Mercedes-Benz Vision V’s cockpit delivers a state-of-the-art digital experience centered around a Superscreen with three screens extending from pillar to pillar. The user interface and user experience are tailored to individual preferences. Real-time graphics provide all essential information – from the dynamic virtual instrument cluster to surround navigation.
In related news, Swiss composites manufacturing company Bcomp has joined forces with Kia to deploy its natural-fiber composite material, ampliTex, into key interior components of the new Concept EV2. Click here to read the full story.
