Mercedes-Benz V-Class Captain’s Seat
First class safety and convenience designed and engineered in Thailand
The Mercedes-Benz V-Class is a premium MPV model. The standard version is equipped with ordinary bench-like seats that can transport up to nine passengers.
In Thailand the V-Class requires to be fitted with an eleven seats configuration to make the van commercially feasible. This required two additional Captain’s seats and a new floor configuration design with three seat rows in the back. In collaboration with Thailand’s only official Mercedes-Benz bodybuilder shakes developed the captain’s seat design and seat box to pass the Mercedes-Benz M1 safety standard.
MAKING WAY FOR COMFORT
The challenge of the eleven seats configuration is to create enough space for passengers to pass from the first row all the way through to the last one without compromising the expected comfort and ergonomics of a premium Mercedes-Benz experience. The solution is an innovative design for the armrest, a mechanism that folds inwards for passengers to pass through to the next row. This patented swivel-mechanism creates an 18 cm pass through channel whilst adding an additional 8 cm of seat width for extra comfort.
COMFORT FROM HEAD TO TOE
The V-Class Captain’s Seat features electric seat adjustment controls into the seat box’s vac-formed side cover. An extendable footrest offers passengers full-body relaxation during Bangkok rush hours. The overall seat design matches the rest of the passenger seats and the overall V-Class livery.
PROCESS-LED
The control of fixtures and assembly is crucial on automotive projects, and even more so on Mercedes-Benz cars. Following Mercedes-Benz rules and regulations the V-Class’s chassis could not be altered with holes or additional fixtures. This lead to engineering around existing anchors inside the cabin. Local 3D scanning was utilized to define tolerances and ensure compatibility between our design data and official Mercedes Benz data. shakes engineered and controlled all production data for local manufacturing.
mercedes-benz Testing
In collaboration with Premium Automotive Alliance, the official Mercedes-Benz body builder, shakes was invited to Daimler Headquarters in Stuttgart to present the design to the technical team and showcase our M1 test results. Our showcase was convincing and initiated further optimization of the seat by shakes’ engineers.
The seat is currently still in development after several years of customs complications. It is being overhauled and re-engineered to pass new legislation for a release in 2023.
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