An in-house Web3 studio and other big plans: Mercedes-Benz is launching a collection with NFT art. And that’s just the beginning if Mercedes is to be believed.

Mercedes-Benz wants to focus on Web3. The car company has been flirting with the blockchain secor for years, but previous forays were cautious. Now Mercedes has announced an NFT collection. "Machine" will be launched on June 7, with 1,000 digital Ethereum NFTs for sale. These NFTs were created by Dutch NFT artist Harm van den Dorpel in collaboration with collector collective Fingerprints DAO. Both are considered established names in the industry.

1/ We can finally announce our inaugural core collection, co-created with generative artist @harmvddorpel and art collectors @FingerprintsDAO. We’re excited to work with giants in this space and would like to share what “Maschine” is all about 🧵 pic.twitter.com/9iOFUxefpr
— Mercedes-Benz NXT (@MercedesBenzNXT) May 30, 2023

The project was launched by Mercedes-Benz NXT, the company’s Web3 studio. It was presented on Twitter on May 23, 2023. Mercedes-Benz NXT wants to "long-term commitment" by focusing on the blockchain sector. "Our vision: creating digital objects that stand the test of time." Two other collections have already been announced: 1,886 collectibles for "top customers" and a "journey through designer heritage" of the company, designed by the Mercedes-Benz design team. The first collection, "Machine", consists of generative art and thus of multiple parts.

Mercedes-Benz has long been experimenting with blockchain

Mercedes-Benz took its first steps on blockchain back in 2019, when the company’s 2022 Formula One team released an NFT collection using FTX. A few months later, Mercedes-Benz filed five patents for NFTs, cryptocurrencies and Metaverse. They also partnered with Polygon for a data platform called Acentrik. This uses NFTs to make buying and selling data more transparent.

Other automakers have also launched NFT projects in the past, including Chevrolet, McLaren, Bentley and Porsche. So far, these have been mostly poorly received.