Mercedes-Benz Unveils "Tomorrow XX" Initiative to Slash Automotive CO2 Emissions

Daily Car

12/12/2025

Mercedes-Benz has started a project called “Tomorrow XX.” Its purpose is to cut the amount of carbon already built into future cars before those cars turn a wheel. The work covers how parts are drawn, how they are built and how they are taken back for re use, all in order to shrink the CO₂ released before the vehicle reaches the customer.

Key points

Tomorrow XX aims to lower the carbon that is locked into the car at birth.
Parts will be redrawn so that they are easy to fix, pull apart and recycle.
Plastics, headlamps, door panels plus second-life materials are the first targets.
The brand wants to look past exhaust emissions and tackle carbon across the whole life of the vehicle.

A new way to draw parts

Chief technology officer Jörg Burzer says the firm is checking more than forty parts in order to cut emissions and to let the materials re enter later production loops. The company now tracks carbon that arises while the car is built, not only what leaves the tailpipe. A clear target is the 250 kg of plastic that an average Mercedes carries - much of it bonds multiple polymers into one piece that recyclers cannot split at a profit. Tomorrow XX redraws each piece so that workers can unscrew it, fix it but also send it back into use.

Fresh prototypes already in test

The furthest along example is a headlamp built to come apart. Instead of a sealed shell, the lens, housing and inner modules bolt together with screws. If a stone cracks only the lens, the service team replaces that single piece instead of the whole lamp - the part lives longer and more of its material stays in circulation. Tests continue in order to check whether the screws weaken the seal or raise factory time - yet the direction is clear.

Door panels receive the same treatment. Engineers swap the usual ultrasonic weld for a thermoplastic rivet that melts in place yet peels away cleanly when heat is re applied. Trims as well as reinforcement plates can then split apart for repair or recycling. If the tests pass, the new panel will fit current Mercedes models without further change.

Second-life stuff and new factory methods

Tomorrow XX also pulls material from cars that have reached end of life. Mixed plastic scrap becomes underbody panels - fabric from spent airbags becomes engine mounts - worn brake pads are ground up and fed into new pads. Early labs run low temperature molds for recycled polymers, coat trim with mineral layers instead of petrochemical lacquer or spin carpets and insulation from fibres that use little binder so that shredders can separate them later.

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