The Mercedes ‘leather seats’ that were really man-made

A DRIVER has discovered that the ‘leather’ seats in his expensive Mercedes are partly fake.

After becoming suspicious about the quality, the businessman sent samples to be tested in a laboratory.

The results showed that while one sample from the middle of the seat was genuine ‘bovine’ leather, the other, from the side of the seat, was polyurethane, backed by layers of woven textile and ‘interlining’.

The driver had bought a nearly new Mercedes E-Class SE for £32,674 from a local dealer in Newcastle. The brochure states that it has leather seats as standard, but doesn’t reveal that the material is partly fake. Following the lab tests by the Leather Technology Centre in Northampton the businessman has since had a full refund and has bought an Audi A7 – with real leather seats – instead.

A Mercedes spokesman said: ‘As standard, the E-Class SE has leather upholstery, which means the main surface area of the seats is covered in genuine leather. Some parts of the seat – the sides, and underneath – are upholstered in a synthetic material. We are investigating altering the wording in our brochures to ensure this is made clearer.’