Child Crashes Luxury Mercedes Into Wall at Paris Auto Show

An unexpected incident occurred at the Mondial de l’Auto 2026 motor show in Paris, the capital of France. A young child got behind the wheel of a luxury Mercedes VLE electric vehicle on display and crashed it into the booth wall.

The incident took place on October 17 at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles exhibition complex. According to Automotomagazine, the child sat in the driver’s seat and accidentally engaged reverse. As a result, the vehicle moved backward and crashed into the wall of the exhibition booth.

Footage shared on social media shows the Mercedes VLE moving backward and hitting the wall. After the crash, the child got out of the vehicle with a surprised expression. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.

The video, published by French media outlets, quickly drew hundreds of thousands of views and sparked widespread discussion on social media.

Following the incident, safety measures at auto shows have once again come under scrutiny. Social media users described keeping display vehicles ready to move and allowing children to enter them unsupervised as a serious security lapse.

The Mercedes VLE involved in the crash is the German manufacturer’s new-generation, fully electric luxury minivan. The model combines the comfort of a limousine with the functionality of a multipurpose family vehicle.

The vehicle is equipped with a 115 kWh battery and, according to the WLTP standard, can travel up to 700 kilometers on a single charge.

In Germany, the Mercedes VLE 300 has a starting price of approximately 70,735 euros, while the more powerful, all-wheel-drive VLE 400 4MATIC version costs 78,450 euros.

Although the incident did not result in serious injury, it has highlighted the issues of visitor safety at auto shows and restricting access to the controls of display vehicles.