Cars

Inside Cloud 46: Mercedes-Benz’s new Shanghai studio

By 2025-05-27T08:45:00

Mercedes-Benz Shanghai studio _6374

Mercedes-Benz has a new studio in Shanghai way up on the 46th floor of a high-rise overlooking the famous Bund. With spectacular views plus a helipad on the roof, Cloud 46 is a strong commitment to mastering the Chinese market

Way, way up high in a skyscraper in Shanghai is Mercedes-Benz newest international design centre. Called Cloud46 (it is on the 46th floor), the German carmaker claims, not unreasonably, that it is the highest studio in the world. To ascend to such heights, staff must transfer from various lifts making an efficient journey more about luck than judgement. CDN visited the newly minted space during the 2025 Shanghai Auto show where design boss Gorden Wagener led us and a selection of international journalists through the space culminating in a rooftop ribbon-cutting ceremony. 

Mercedes-Benz had previously opened an R&D Centre in 2022 to go with the Beijing engineering centre but with the opening of a new international design centre(IDC) in China’s most creative and cosmopolitan city, the German carmaker clearly believes the answer to flagging sales is a better understanding of the local market. 

The Shanghai studio is the fourth in the German carmakers IDC portfolio. Outside of the Renzo Piano designed HQ in Sindelfingen, the others include Carlsbad in California headed up by Michael Gebhardt and Nice in the south of France run by Alexandre Malval. Cloud 46 will be overseen by Joel Baek.  

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