Now Mercedes-Benz has launched its own London luxury apartments
Now you can experience the feeling of being in the driving seat of a Mercedes-Benz without even stepping foot outside a front door.
The carmaker is manoeuvring an unusual left-field turn into the luxury property business with a new concept of Mercedes designed serviced apartments in London.
In a collaboration with Singaporean luxury serviced apartments firm Frasers Hospitality, six apartments measuring between 50 and 100 square metres are available in Kensington, with an interior kitted out with a look just as sleek as the inside of its cars.
What exactly makes a Mercedes designed pad? That apparently means "sculptured" sofas, an S-shaped Swarovski crystal chandelier and a "Black Magic Wall" which it describes as a: "media wall with integrated smart TV and high-gloss black finish has a cool technical appearance that creates an intentional contrast to the historical Kensington Street in which the apartments are located. It blends seamlessly into the beautifully designed sideboard, above which there is a sculptural element reminiscent of the feature line of a car." Of course.
The idea sprung from Daimler's business innovation department which is tasked with brain storming new ideas for the company, and has previously spawned its car sharing scheme Car2Go.
With London's booming luxury property market, it's the prime location for piloting the idea, and apartments in Singapore will follow next year with ambitions for further expansion down the road.
"Our aim is to turn the idea of the Mercedes apartments into a functioning business model as quickly as possible. Successful past projects such as car2go show that this is within our capabilities," said Wilfried Steffen, head of the Daimler's business innovation department.