New Mercedes-Benz GLC becomes world’s first car with Vegan Society certified interior
Rigorous certification ensures animal-free materials across Mercedes-Benz interiors
DUBAI – Mercedes-Benz has introduced a pioneering innovation in automotive design, becoming the world’s first car manufacturer to offer a vegan interior certified by The Vegan Society.
The new interior option, called the Vegan Package, will debut in the latest Mercedes-Benz GLC with EQ Technology. The certification sets a global standard for the use of animal-free materials in car production and ensures customers have complete transparency on material sourcing and composition.
The Vegan Society, a globally recognised independent organisation, conducted thorough testing on all soft-touch interior materials, ranging from seat upholstery and headliners to carpet and door trim. Its certification confirms that no materials of animal origin, either processed or unprocessed, were used at any stage of development, production or processing.
Customers choosing the Vegan Package can be confident their vehicle interior bears the official Vegan Trademark, a seal recognised worldwide.
Testing standards
Mercedes-Benz established a rigorous framework to verify the vegan integrity of its interior materials. Initially, soft-touch surfaces such as leather replicas, microfibre fleece and textiles used across existing vehicle interiors were audited under a pilot project with The Vegan Society. Where testing raised concerns about possible animal-derived elements, the company worked directly with suppliers to replace the components with verified animal-free alternatives.
All replacement materials were required to match Mercedes-Benz’s strict standards of quality and durability, ensuring no compromise on the brand’s hallmark luxury and safety. Following this process, The Vegan Society conducted a comprehensive independent audit, assessing around 100 material components from various suppliers against its certification standards. The globally recognised Vegan Trademark was awarded only after meeting these strict criteria, which also included ensuring no testing on animals and preventing cross-contamination with animal-derived substances wherever practically possible.
Certified interior
The launch of the new Mercedes-Benz GLC with EQ Technology marks the first time a car interior has received the Vegan Trademark certification. Rather than restricting the Vegan Package to upholstery alone, Mercedes-Benz extended the certification to a wide range of components that customers frequently interact with.
Certified areas include seat and steering wheel covers, door sills, pillars, sun visors, the centre console, instrument panel, headliner and boot carpeting. Many of these elements also feature a high content of recycled materials, furthering the brand’s commitment to sustainability. The Vegan Package can be easily selected via the Mercedes-Benz online configurator and will be expanded to additional models in future.
Industry milestone
Senior executives highlighted the importance of transparency and trust in launching the new interior option. Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Chief Technology Officer for Development and Procurement, stated: “At Mercedes-Benz, we don’t take shortcuts – instead, we go the extra mile. The certification of our vegan interior by The Vegan Society underlines this approach. Transparency and trust are very important to us. Our customers can rest assured that our vegan interior materials do not contain any animal products and meet very high testing standards.”
The Vegan Society echoed this milestone achievement, describing the collaboration as a breakthrough in the automotive industry. The organisation emphasised that it was the first time a car interior had been independently certified and approved under its Vegan Trademark programme, marking a two-year-long collaboration with Mercedes-Benz.