[Decolliber]

Mercedes takes a hiding
Ray Hutton
8 February 2004
The Sunday Times
(c) 2004 Times Newspapers Limited

Animal rights activists have turned their attention to car makers who they claim use excessive amounts of leather. Peta, the US-based group that has long campaigned against the fur trade, is directing its attack at DaimlerChrysler, calling for a boycott of its cars and releasing publicity material suggesting Mercedes-Benz means Mercilessly-Bad. The campaigners complain that the more expensive Mercedes models are not available without leather upholstery.

The group is now collecting petitions and encouraging those with leather seats in their cars to send them back to the manufacturer's chief executive.

There has been a rise in the use of leather in cars, as it is increasingly marketed as the luxury option. At the extreme, a new Rolls-Royce Phantom takes 17 carefully selected and matched cow-hides, while trimming a Bentley Continental GT needs 11 similarly processed skins. The industry argues that, unlike fur, leather is a by-product of meat production and the cows are not killed specifically for their skin.

Peta has had some success with Mercedes in India, which has agreed to offer a non-leather option for all E-class cars assembled there, and to import S-class saloons with cloth seats for the same price as locally produced leather-clad ones.

India is a special case because cows have religious significance there, so it remains to be seen if Peta's campaign will succeed in America and Europe.

(C) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2004