Overview
- Mercedes has halted the commercial rollout of its Level 3 Drive Pilot in Europe and the United States, with the updated S-Class arriving without the feature.
- The company cites middling customer demand and high development and production costs, noting the system’s narrow operating domain and limited legal availability.
- Drive Pilot worked only on mapped highways in places like Germany, California, and Nevada under conditions such as daylight, clear weather, readable lane lines, and often a lead vehicle, with buyers facing about $2,500 per year to use it.
- Mercedes is shifting investment to a supervised Level 2 package—marketed as Drive Pilot Assist/MB. Drive Assist Pro—that operates in cities with driver attention required, uses NVIDIA computing, drops lidar, and is offered as a $3,950 three‑year option on the 2026 CLA.
- Supplier hurdles included Mercedes terminating its lidar deal with Luminar in 2024, with Luminar later filing for bankruptcy, while investors registered a modest share-price uptick and EU driver‑monitoring rules taking effect in July 2026 continue to shape product plans.