Mercedes-Benz becomes first automaker with independently certified vegan interiors, leading a sweeping industry shift toward leather-free luxury, with innovations from Volvo, BMW, Renault, and more not far behind.
Mercedes-Benz has unveiled a groundbreaking advancement in automotive interiors, becoming the first carmaker globally to receive independent vegan certification for its vehicle cabin materials. The Vegan Society conducted thorough testing of every soft-touch surface — from the seats and headliner to pillars, door panels, and carpeting — and confirmed that the new Vegan Package, featuring the high-grade MB-Tex and matching textiles, contains no animal-derived substances in any form, across all production stages.
“The certification of our vegan interior by The Vegan Society underlines this approach: transparency and trust are very important to us,” Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Chief Technology Officer, Development & Procurement, said in a statement shared with Ethos. “Our customers can rest assured that our vegan interior materials do not contain any animal products and meet very high testing standards. We are delighted to be able to offer them this assurance through our partnership with an independent and globally recognized certification organization.”
The certification process spanned an audit of around 100 supplier materials, testing components used today — such as MB-Tex, microfibers, and other textiles — and when any animal-derived elements were suspected, replacements were developed with suppliers to uphold Mercedes-Benz’s standards of quality and perceived value. The Vegan Society’s “Vegan Trademark” was awarded following a full independent audit, verifying the materials’ manufacture without animal inputs, animal testing, and minimal risk of cross-contamination.
“With the joint project between The Vegan Society and Mercedes-Benz, we have reached a new milestone: it is the first time that a car interior has been third-party certified and approved by the Vegan Trademark. We are thrilled that Mercedes-Benz chose to partner with us on this journey and we have certainly learnt a lot from the two-year-long project,” said Gabriela Chalkia-Jackson, Client Relations Manager of the Vegan Trademark.
The new option is slated for the all-electric GLC and extends well beyond the seats to include upholstery on the steering wheel, headliner, door sills, center console, instrument panel, and carpeting in both cabin and trunk — many of which incorporate recycled-material content.
Can the luxury car sector replace conventional leather?
Volvo outlined a bold ambition in September 2021, pivoting to leather-free interiors across its fully electric range by 2030 as part of its larger strategy to operate as a circular business by 2040. It introduced Nordico — an interior textile crafted from recycled PET bottles, cork from wine production, and bio-attributed materials sourced from sustainable Scandinavian forests — designed to replicate the softness and warmth of traditional leather. Volvo’s general design lead, Robin Page, explained that consumer demand now includes ethical provenance, making Nordico a “modern way to capture the properties” of leather while also being aligned with Volvo’s ethical and environmental goals.
Volvo’s sustainability goals include having 25 percent of materials in new models derived from recycled or bio-based content by the end of this year, and a full transition of its supplier base to renewable energy within that same timeframe.
BMW is likewise investing heavily in leather alternatives. In a recent “Vegan Future” bulletin, it revealed that its collaboration with startups has yielded surfaces that reduce CO₂ emissions by 85 percent along the value chain — without compromising premium feel. A new vegan steering-wheel material was described as soft yet robust, indistinguishable in feel from leather while resisting abrasion, sweat, and moisture, meeting the high expectations of a luxury brand.
BMW’s development extends to cactus-based biomaterials, such as Deserttex, a material composed of powdered cactus fibers bound by a bio-based polyurethane matrix; its cultivation yields no irrigation or wastewater and sequesters significant CO₂ in the soil. The company is also exploring Mirum, a 100-percent bio-based, petroleum-free, fully recyclable leather mimic, with support through BMW i Ventures.
Industry analysts note that the conventional automotive leather market is projected to nearly double by 2033, yet scaling remains the principal challenge for leather alternatives. Deep partnerships between carmakers and material innovators are viewed as essential to bringing animal-free seating solutions to production scale.
Emerging strategies
Renault joined the momentum earlier this year, pledging to eliminate animal leather from every vehicle by the end of the year. New models such as the Renault 5 E-Tech Electric, Symbioz, and Rafale already feature eco-friendly fabric interiors, reflecting a broader trend toward compassion-driven luxury.
Tesla now offers vegan interiors across its entire lineup, a move echoed by Porsche in its Taycan EV, which offers a leather-free option. Land Rover has experimented with upholstery blends from wool and polyester.
Hyundai is also carving its own path in the shift away from leather. Through Hyundai Cradle, its open-innovation hub in Silicon Valley, the company recently partnered with New York–based startup Uncaged Innovations to co-develop a leather alternative made from grain proteins.
Unlike petroleum-based synthetics, the Uncaged Innovations material — called Elevate — relies on proteins derived from wheat, soy, and corn, creating a fibral network that mimics the structure of collagen. The result is a biodegradable, high-performance material that an independent life-cycle analysis found produces 95 percent fewer greenhouse gases, uses 89 percent less water, and consumes 71 percent less energy than conventional leather.
Hyundai has emphasized that the material meets durability and luxury standards for its interiors, while also dovetailing with its broader sustainability strategy, which already includes plastics derived from wood cellulose and seat coverings made from eucalyptus fibers.
Mercedes-Benz has also collaborated with Modern Meadow, a U.S. biotechnology company known for its biofabricated materials. The automaker integrated the company’s Innovera material — a cow-free textile made using plant proteins and recycled AMG GT3 racing car tires — into its Concept AMG GT XX program, underscoring its pursuit of performance-grade, next-generation alternatives that extend beyond concept to scalable luxury applications.
What the future holds
Research by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) underscored the surge in vegan interior availability, finding many manufacturers — Citroën, Dacia, Ford, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Peugeot, Renault, smart, Toyota, and Volvo — now offer interior options free of leather and even wool upon request or as standard. The global synthetic-leather market is projected to reach US $67.2 billion by 2030.
However, Polestar, the Swedish electric-vehicle brand, has pushed back on the “vegan car” label. Polestar’s head of sustainability, Fredrika Klarén, characterized such claims as greenwash, highlighting that although upholstery may exclude animal products, truly vegan cars would need to eliminate plastic and PVC components — making full vegan claims misleading.
Volvo’s commitment underscores the strategic alignment between electric mobility and cruelty-free materials, as well as broader circularity goals. BMW’s trailblazing development of biomaterials like cactus fibers, plant-based and recycled polyester surfaces, and next-gen textiles point to robust innovation pipelines. But it’s Mercedes-Benz’s independent certification sets a new benchmark in both transparency and material integrity, signaling that luxury automakers can offer interiors that satisfy both ethical standards and tactile expectations.
“At Mercedes-Benz, we don’t take shortcuts,” Schäfer said, “instead, we go the extra mile.”
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