Last year Mercedes revealed its S-Class Coupe concept, due out in 2015, a beautiful and unique concept car that very likely had a large number of 3D printed parts. For its next gen 2018 S-Class, Mercedes has announced it is considering introducing 3D parts, not just for the concept models but for final production of interior trim pieces.
The S-Class is Mercedes most a highly technologically innovative line of cars and the company plans to introduce many Hi-Tech innovations such as gesture controls, lightweight one-piece seats and one-piece air vents. The company is considering using 3D printing to manufacture some of these because it now considers it a potentially economically viable solutions.
According to an Auto Express article quoting Mercedes’ Chief Interior Designer Jan Kaul, this means 3D printing will be used for the one-piece air vents as well as for other intricate details like the speaker grilles, making them stiffer, lighter and faster to manufacture. “It is a definite possibility,” Kaul said to Auto Express, adding though that it is a simply a question of margins. “We must be making thousands of these components to make sure the quality and cost is viable”.
The decision whether to implement 3D printing for manufacturing of plastic interior final parts will depend on the products geometry, on the cost of the materials and on the speed of production, Mercedes’ S-Class is currently the top selling luxury sedan world wide, shipping in the order of hundreds of thousands of cars each year: the biggest news here is that additive manufacturing is now potentially capable of addressing this type of production demand.
