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Mercedes Shows Off New Design Language—and Releases Design Manifesto

The Vision Iconic, unveiled alongside their "Iconic Design" book

By Rain Noe - October 17, 2025

in Cars | Books

Mercedes-Benz has rolled out yet another design exploration, following up on their Vision One-Eleven and Vision V concepts. While the previous two were for a racy sportscar and a luxury executive transporter, respectively, their new Vision Iconic harkens back to a 1930s saloon.

"Inspired by the golden era of automotive design of the 1930s, this showcar embodies the pure essence of Mercedes-Benz," the company writes. "With the VISION ICONIC, Mercedes-Benz shows what the future can look like when it is shaped by tradition, while remaining uncompromisingly modern."

The concept is meant to represent "an unmistakable design language" that they're calling "Sensual Purity."

I do appreciate a vehicle concept where it looks like the clay guy or gal did most of the work. I love the confident, uncluttered surfacing and that arrow-straight beltline. The profile really nails it for me, with the blunt nose immediately giving way to a streamlined form that Raymond Loewy might've drawn. You can also see how absurdly, but beautifully, long the hood is; with most modern cars, the A-pillar points an imaginary line to the center of the front wheel. Here there's at least an extra wheel's worth of space.

They lose me a bit with the front grille—the LED grid reminds me of a Hyundai Ioniq 5—and I think the logo-fied headlights are a bridge too far. The chunky form of the LED trigrams doesn't match the elegance of the hood ornament, and I find the effect jarring.

There's just one shot of the interior, and it's downright strange: Art Deco meets mystical sci-fi. It looks like, if you were to join the two artifacts suspended within the dashboard, the universe would explode.

Nitpicks aside: Mercedes is also, quite unusually, releasing a book in connection with the concept. Called "Iconic Design," it's billed as the brand's design manifesto, as lead by Gorden Wagener, the company's head of design. "Full of fascinating ideas and pulsating emotions, [the book] allows insights into the secret design studio in Sindelfingen and impresses with its close proximity to the design protagonists of Mercedes-Benz." It contains previously-unpublished images, runs €75 (USD $87) and is limited to just 540 units.

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Eric Ludlum

6 months ago

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I like the direction it's headed.

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David Rost

6 months ago

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It's interesting as a one-off but showcasing their new design language? What does it say? We go way back in our own history? Uncluttering surfaces is great because it seems very uncommon these days. But other than that? The giant hood? The LED-Grill? The Porsche inspired lines in the back? It´s a nice sculpture but for me it is hard to find any clues where transportation is headed. But maybe this is not supposed to answer that ...

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Roger ak

6 months ago

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That rear end shot looks more Jag then Merc
Also, why do the seats look like an out of date couch?

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Rob Wilkey

6 months ago

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nah

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