Mercedes-Benz is attempting to create a luxury rival to Google’s control over automobile software.
Key Details
- In a Wednesday event in California, Mercedes-Benz announced its plans for Mercedes-Benz Operating System (MB.OS)—a new proprietary OS to rival Google’s industry-defining Android Automotive platform.
- The operating system will be sold as paid software bundles and become available within the next few years by mid-decade. The technology will also be sold to compete against Google in other vehicle brands.
- Mercedes-Benz will still continue to collaborate with Google on hands-free driving and navigation features, Axios reports.
Why It’s Important
Mercedes-Benz is currently leading in innovating many of the best features for upcoming luxury cars. Most recently, the company was approved to begin deploying hands-off driving features in its Level 3 Driving System, although it is currently only legal in Nevada. The first 2024 EQS and S-Class cars with the feature will go on the market in late 2023. The technology allows drivers to take their hands off the wheels and not pay attention in traffic jams below 40 miles per hour.
Developing a proprietary operating system will help the company develop stronger relationships with customers, tighten data protections, and potentially gross $10 billion in revenue while making it a more aggressive rival in automotive software development, Axios notes.
Notable Quote
“At Mercedes-Benz, we are dedicated to building the world’s most desirable cars. Accordingly, we made the decision to be the architects of our own operating system—a unique chip-to-cloud architecture that leverages its full access to our vehicles’ hardware and software components. By combining this in-house expertise with a selection of world-class partners, we will create an outstanding customer experience, from driving assistance, navigation, and entertainment, all the way to integrated charging. MB.OS will feature full upgradeability and constant improvements,” says CEO Ola Källenius.
