The role of the suppliers will change in the future with the development of a proprietary car software from Mercedes-Benz. CEO Ola Källenius told the German Press Agency in Stuttgart: “More than four years ago we decided to take a step into the future.” To do this, you have to redesign the vehicle when it comes to the interface between software and hardware. “So away from a decentralized structure in which I will eventually have over 100 control units.”
Källenius said that you come from an era in which you have a decentralized electrical and electronic architecture. You work together with many suppliers, buy control units, software packages and then it was the task of the car manufacturer to integrate all these functions perfectly into the car.
When it comes to the company’s planned operating system, on the other hand, Mercedes-Benz is the architect of the house. The carmaker’s in-house software becomes MB. called OS (Mercedes Benz Operating System). The CEO did not provide any information on the amount of development costs. According to dpa information, they amount to one to two billion euros per year. The company plans to present more details about MB.OS to the public on Wednesday at a strategy update in Sunnyvale, California.
With the in-house software, the manufacturer has four areas in mind. These are infotainment (entertainment and information), vehicle and comfort functions, driving and charging as well as automated driving, as the manager reported. “In all areas you can decide to program it yourself or to work with partners.” When it comes to infotainment in particular, car manufacturers don’t have to reinvent the world. That doesn’t make any sense. “In some areas you then also decide to work together with strong technology partners.”
CEO Källenius continued: “Autonomous driving is the most exciting area.” A partnership with Nvidia was announced here two years ago. “We work very closely together and jointly develop the next generation of assisted driving systems.”
In Germany, the team is responsible for software development. It will be expanded abroad. For example in Bangalore. There are now 5,000 developers there, including many software specialists.
Mercedes Benz Group
