---
title: "Uber May Have Just Ordered 100,000 Mercedes-Benz S-Classes"
description: "The ride-sharing company is reportedly hungry for autonomous cars"
date: "2016-03-18"
modified: "2016-03-18"
authors:
  - name: "Will Sabel Courtney"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/will-sabel-courtney"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/2630/uber-may-have-just-ordered-100-000-mercedes-benz-s-classes"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "autonomous driving"
  - "Germany"
  - "luxury"
  - "Mercedes-Benz"
  - "s-class"
  - "sedan"
  - "self-driving cars"
  - "Uber"
---

# Uber May Have Just Ordered 100,000 Mercedes-Benz S-Classes

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/031816-uber-mercedes-hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Whoa. According to various sources, ride-sharing giant Uber is reaching out to automobile manufacturers in an attempt to buy self-driving cars. A whole bunch of self-driving cars.

"They wanted autonomous cars," [a confidential automotive industry source told *Reuters*](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-daimler-uber-idUSKCN0WK1C8>), according to a March 18 article. "It seemed like they were shopping around."

This comes hot on the heels of [a report from Germany's *Manager Magazin*](<https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/autoindustrie/daimler-uber-soll-autonom-steuernde-s-klassen-bestellt-haben-a-1082886.html>) claiming Uber had placed an order for at least 100,000 Mercedes-Benz S-Classes with autonomous capability, with deliveries starting around the year 2020. ([That date lines up with Mercedes-Benz's stated timeline for an autonomous S-Class](<https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewdepaula/2013/09/30/autonomous-driving-will-become-an-option-on-regular-mercedes-models-by-2020/>).) *Manager* claimed it had sources from both Mercedes-Benz and Uber to support the assertion. Reuters, on the other hand, said it spoke with a source familiar with the matter, who claimed no such order had been place.

Such an order would be a massive transaction for both Uber and Mercedes. The carmaker only builds around 100,000 S-Class models annually for the entire planet, so even if the order was filled over several years it would require a significant increase in S-Class production. Likewise, with the S-Class starting at $96,595 in the United States, an order for 100,000 units could cost close to $10 billion. (Though they'd presumably get some kind of Costco discount.)

For the moment, we're going to file this talk of Uber looking to buy a ton of autonomous cars in the "we'll believe it when we see it" folder. Obviously, a fleet of self-driving cars would save Uber a ton of money—[no more drivers to pay](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/2217/uber-drivers-say-driving-for-uber-blows>)!—but the technology is still very much in its infancy. Besides, self-driving cars are still subject to a hodgepodge of different laws and regulations across the planet. Here in the U.S., different states have vastly different rules on the subject, and [Congress has just begun to scratch the surface of the issue](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/2621/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-senates-hearing-on-autonomous-driving>).

And like Carl Sagan used to say: extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

## Author
Will is the former managing editor of *RIDES Magazine* and the former online editor for *0-60 Magazine*. He has worked for *Time Out New York* and *Rolling Stone*, and was the creator of *College Cars Online*, the first automotive blog specifically targeted at college students and young professionals.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/willsabelcourtney>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/willscourtney>)