Two Mercedes-AMG car owners have filed a class action lawsuit against the automaker, alleging the metallic AMG logo on the driver's seat causes burns and leaves marks on occupants' skin. The plaintiffs seek compensation for medical expenses, pain, and suffering, and want Mercedes to cover logo removal for other owners.
The lawsuit highlights potential product safety issues with luxury vehicle design and could lead to significant compensation payouts and costly recalls for Mercedes-Benz if the claims are substantiated.
Two drivers of Mercedes-AMG vehicles have initiated a class action lawsuit against the luxury car manufacturer, asserting that the metallic AMG logo integrated into the driver's seat causes severe burns. The plaintiffs, Gabriel Lahijani and Karendeep Bath, contend that the design defect leads the raised logo to contact occupants' upper back, neck, or shoulder, resulting in branding and thermal burns.
Lahijani, who leased a 2026 Mercedes-AMG E-Class, reported second-degree burns on his back after wearing a tank top and contacting the logo. A dermatologist documented the injury as "AMG inscribed." Bath experienced similar burns from the logo design while wearing a sleeveless top, with a mark consistent with a thermal contact burn appearing on her skin.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of California, seeks compensation for the plaintiffs' medical expenses, pain, suffering, and emotional distress. Additionally, they are requesting that Mercedes-Benz cover the cost for other owners to have the logo removed from their vehicles. Mercedes-Benz could not be immediately reached for comment.
This legal action follows a separate settlement in December, where Mercedes-Benz USA and its parent company, Daimler AG, agreed to pay $149.6 million to resolve allegations of installing devices to cheat emissions tests in hundreds of thousands of vehicles between 2008 and 2016.