Mercedes-Benz enters into a strategic partnership with Google. The automaker announced this at an event in California on Wednesday evening. The main aim is to integrate the Google Maps map service more closely, which is intended to improve the range forecast for electric cars, for example. The YouTube video platform will also be integrated, but will only be available when the car is parked or driving autonomously.
However, many of the functions should only be available to drivers when Mercedes introduces its own operating system. This is planned for the middle of the decade, as the manufacturer also announced. Information from Google such as opening hours or reviews of shops should be immediately accessible.
Mercedes had long announced the presentation of details of its own operating system and postponed it in the meantime. The company emphasized that the operating system was designed and developed in-house, giving Mercedes full control over the customer relationship and data protection. In addition to the Google partnership, other cooperations were presented, for example with the Chinese tech group Tencent for autonomous driving in the People’s Republic.
The autonomous driving function, which has so far been available for the S-Class and the electric S-Class EQS in Germany and one US state, should be able to drive up to 130 kilometers per hour as soon as possible; the current limit is 60 kilometers per hour.
The group announced that it intends to generate a low to mid-single-digit billion amount a year with its software solutions by the middle of the decade. Digital services are expected to contribute a good 1 billion euros to the operating result in 2025.
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