As Mercedes Benz looks to roll out its future line of luxury cars, it is looking at technology as one of the key differentiators.

Future concept

If you are driving a car and you get a phone call, Mercedes is looking at ways with which the call can be taken without using a cellphone but through a sensor-powered device that would come pre-installed in the vehicle.

“The way technology is coming into cars is changing the very concept of what a car will be in the future,” Helmut Schutt, Chief Information Officer Daimler, Trucks, Buses & Vans, told BusinessLine at CeBIT India conference. Companies such as Mercedes and others are redefining the way cars would be in the future — from the way sensors inside the car help in augmenting driving, entertainment devices can interact with car audio systems to the way cars can be maintained. “Using Big Data and other analytics technologies, we can do predictive maintenance to help a car owner decide when to change battery or engine oil,” said Schutt. Already, some bits of technology are present in Mercedes vehicles.

For example, if you have an iPhone, you need not take a call from the phone, instead can route it through a speaker, thereby helping in hands-free driving.

Also, the C-Class luxury sedans come with a new generation infotainment system called “Audio 20 Version 5.1”, with a new interface featuring a touchpad.

“We are working on such technologies on other platforms (such as Android and Microsoft),” added Schutt.

Recall issues

Despite these efforts a lot more needs to be done, opine industry watchers. This is especially in the backdrop of recent recalls due to problems in steering in its C-class cars in the US.

On the technology front, there are connectivity issues too. “User should be able to connect to 3G or other technologies and broadcast that same signal via Wi-Fi,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, Analyst at Greyhound Research.

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