Much like Ford and its 40 years of Nugget camper vans, Mercedes has been working with Westfalia on its own little mini-camper since the 1980s. In fact, the Marco Polo launched two years before the Nugget and four years before the Westfalia-converted Volkswagen California. Now, Mercedes follows Volkswagen in leaving Westfalia behind and pulling its small camper van production entirely in-house. So, more literally than any other vehicle on the planet, the newly updated 2026 Marco Polo is the Mercedes of RV life.
Mercedes-Benz stresses that pulling Marco Polo production in-house will ensure the highest quality standards by putting its own proverbial fingerprints all over every step and detail. It also believes that the intermingling of van production and camper fitment will lead to synergies that speed up overall production and pave the way for more flexibility and efficiency.
Mercedes will build the base V-Class van at its Vans plant in Vitoria, Spain before sending it along to its plant in Ludwigsfelde, Germany for the full camper package installation. Mercedes assures that its Ludwigsfelde employees have undergone extensive training on the processes to ensure the most skillful RV preparation.
“At our Ludwigsfelde plant, with its highly motivated team, the Marco Polo is converted in a dedicated production hall using state-of-the-art manufacturing processes," explained Roberto Lopez Garcia, head of production at Ludwigsfelde. "Consequently, the new Marco Polo embodies the utmost in Mercedes‑Benz precision."
The latest version of the Marco Polo camper van hit the market two years ago just ahead of summer 2024 (Northern Hemisphere). Mercedes gives it a new refresh for MY2026 in honor of its readjusted origins story, adding some subtle but substantive updates.
The biggest updates center around the pop-up roof. For starters, the new lightweight double-skinned aluminum pop-top design adds an additional 4 inches (10 cm) of headroom inside the upstairs bedroom, enhancing comfort and space. The new pop-up bedroom will also house the most experience-enhancing new feature for 2026: a skylight that lets more natural light and air into the upstairs bedroom while providing clear views of the sparkling night sky.
Before anyone rifles through the gallery for a better look at what sounds like a cleanly integrated, automotive-like roof window, we should note that it's not shown in any of the photos accompanying this month's Mercedes announcement. We found that a little weird since it's clearly a top highlight of the refresh, but Mercedes does note that it won't get added to the new camper until the middle of 2026. So it sounds like it just doesn't yet have a production or pre-production model of which to grab a photo.
One pop-top feature that does show up in the photo gallery, the new ambient LED system gives campers more flexibility through a selection of settings ranging from icy cold white to warming yellow. The lights glow through the van's light-gray pop-up fabric, making the space appear like a live-in LED luminaria from outside.
The Marco Polo also gains more smart mobile home features in the MBAC infotainment suite Mercedes added to its small camper van in 2019. Onboard users will be able to control the new upstairs lighting system, skylight opening and upgraded vehicle sound system using either the MBUX infotainment touchscreen in the driver's cockpit or the accompanying mobile app on one's device. The MBAC system also incorporates instant control of such features as pop-up roof deployment/retraction, climate control and refrigerator temperature.
The enhanced audio system can now play when the infotainment system is turned off, meaning it becomes a multi-speaker surround sound system for the campsite, playing music directly via Bluetooth. Slide the side door open and go beyond the tiny waterproof camping speaker with a full eight speakers plus subwoofer.
Mercedes also promises other upgrades throughout, including an improved folding table design, an awning further optimized for assembly and disassembly, a more efficient coolbox in the driver's-side kitchen block, and smoother drawer slides.
As in past model years, the 2026 Marco Polo comes equipped with a kitchen with dual-burner gas stove, sink and 40-L compressor fridge box, swivel cab seats, a removable dining table that attaches to the face of the kitchen block, and a two-seat rear bench that converts into an 80 x 44-in (203 x 113-cm) double bed.
The 2026 Marco Polo will be available to order in the coming weeks, as will the updated 2026 Marco Polo Horizon. Essentially Mercedes' answer to the Volkswagen California Beach, the Horizon is a V-Class-based light camper van with convertible downstairs bench/bed, pop-up sleeper roof and interior dining area but no driver's side kitchen or rear cabinet. Losing that furniture has the advantage of adding roughly 8.5 inches (22 cm) of width to the fold-down double bed in the van.
The new Marco Polo models will make their world exhibition premiere at the 2026 Düsseldorf Caravan Salon in August. We plan to get a closer look at the updated details and gather more information at the show. Pricing should be released before then, but if not, we'll look for that in Düsseldorf, too. Expect it to be a bump from the 2025 base prices of €80,664 (approx. US$95,600) for the full Marco Polo camper van and €68,122 ($80,725) for the Horizon.
Source: Mercedes-Benz
