BERLIN (Reuters) - Mercedes-Benz has agreed to offer "leather-free" versions of all its luxury cars to pacify an animal rights group that says thousands of cows are slaughtered each year for leather car seats and interiors.

After complaints from the German chapter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, DaimlerChrysler said its Mercedes subsidiary will offer fabric or synthetic leather as options.

Daimler spokeswoman Ursula Mertzig-Stein said that far from wanting leather-free cars, "our customers ... are more likely to want even more leather at the premium end. But we'll make cars without leather on demand."

PETA officials, who had threatened protests at the carmaker's Stuttgart headquarters, said they were delighted.

"When you consider that the skins of four to 15 cows are needed for each car this means thousands of cows will be spared," said PETA researcher Edmund Haferbeck. "This is a huge victory for animal rights."

Lessee.........
And all those Big Mac's come from where ?

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

Hmm. I think, if I planned to keep the car a while, I'd much prefer MB-Tex to leather in any case. It obviously holds up far longer.

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http://webwench.net/albums/new83-300...1700.thumb.jpg
1983 300D-T
348,000 miles

Personally I prefer luxury cloth, but it is a dead horse in the premium car market because they don't make money for the car manufacturers. Leather, MB tex are just like the old vinyl seats in the 60's and 70's, cold in the winter and hot in the summer.

__________________
Flash Gordon

2003 E500 BlackOpal/Charcoal

2004 Infiniti G35X

hmmm funny they should mention......I saw Mercedes just a little while ago with at least 4 cows in it...........

__________________
Brandon



2008 S550
1957 Dodge D100
1967 VW Microbus 21 Window
2001 Suburban
2004 Beach cruiser bicycle
-----------------GO DUKE!-----------------

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here." Patrick Henry 1776

Just finished reading "Gold Plated Porsche" and there's a section describing why leather is the worst covering for car interiors. As any hide clad car can probably attest to . . . it's not what it's "cracked up" to be sometimes.

I've always loved MB Tex. I've had some friends get into any of my old 123s and mention how nice the leather is. If Mercedes offers it in the future, I think I'd choose it over leather.

__________________

Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

I would agree, Id much rather have MB-Tex over Leather, or even cloth. Cloth interiors seem to suffer from fading that is more obvious to the eye when compared to tex, which if cared for, will look just as good as new 20 years from now.

The leather in the C280 is in great shape for its age, but it isnt anywhere as nice as the MB-tex in the 300DT. And as said above, everyone has commented on how nice the "leather" is.... and are VERY surprised to hear that its NOT leather.... MB did a nice job with the Tex, looks and feels far from your typical vynil upholstery, common in cars of a lesser caliber.

When the time comes to re-upholster the C280, it will definitely be done with MB-Tex!

Thank god theyre bringing it back, hopefully!

__________________
Nate

1995 E420
1992 BMW 525i
1984 300D Turbo sold
1993 Volvo 244 sold
1995 Volvo 944T R.I.P!


"The details are not details. They make the product."
-Charles Eames

www.cbs.nu

NOT from cows, that's for sure.

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2007 C 230 Sport.

But what about all that poor Naugas that'll be slaughtered for their hydes now? Has no one thought about their feelings?

another vote for MBTex here. The one in my 1989 190e2.6 is in very good condition, save for a small tear along a seam of the driver's seat (which gets a lot of abuse). The rest of the seats are in beautiful condition.

the thing about MBTex is that I do not have qualms about spraying it with an ordinary household cleaner/disinfectant when I do get around to clean it. With leather, you would have to use special cleaning agents.

they should have a logo saying "No cows were harmed in the making of this car ..." or something like that ...

I hope they recreate the quality MB tex they used in the old cars and don't develop some new, cheaper material instead. The way things are going at MB lately is cause to worry.

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headrivenoise... listen.

The MB-Tex in my '90 190e, and even in the '87 190e, have held up better than the leather in my dad's 1990 300e, despite both cars having been stored outdoors for much longer periods of time.

__________________
1990 190e 2.6 - The only one I can really call "My Car".

1987 190e 2.3 - The donor car's up and running, only mods are Euros and a Sony headunit. My Dad's runabout now.

1990 300e 2.6 - The parents' ride.

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)