Mercedes-Benz India Enhances IT-Enginnering for its new Models

Mercedes-Benz India Ltd. (MBIL) and Mercedes-Benz Research & Development India (MBRDI) jointly showcased at the CeBIT Bangalore the latest products within the Mercedes-Benz passenger car range available in India and presented examples of their captive research, development and IT-engineering activities in India.

With the growing importance of IT in product development, infotainment- and connectivity applications, CeBIT offers a unique forum to exhibit how much IT has become the backbone of automobile engineering today – and its ever growing importance in the future.

‘IT is everywhere’ has been a philosophy within the company for quite some time, acknowledging that without the support of state-of-the-art IT solutions, important activities such as product development, order processing, production, simulation, testing, aftersales-service, billing and payment cannot be done successfully.

“Our customers expect not only appealing design, outstanding quality and superb performance from a Mercedes-Benz vehicle, they also like to stay connected,  entertained and informed when using their vehicles”, explained Eberhard Kern, CEO of Mercedes-Benz India. “We offer our customers an ideal in-car infotainment system and the new C-Class sets benchmark in terms of integrating next generation telematics and IT systems. We are constantly implementing the the latest technologies available, up to the stage where we are a front-runner in the development of semi-autonomous and autonomous driving.”

Manu Saale, MD and CEO of MBRDI emphasised: “We are very proud to be an important contributor within the global RD and IT network at Mercedes-Benz. MBRDI has grown from strength to strength and with over 2,000 associates, we contribute to our global vehicle development with our vast experience. This includes working on Design, Simulations, E&E, Testing, IT applications development and IT services and as such we play an important part to assure top customer satisfaction globally - and as well here in India.”

Digital Life has entered all fields of daily social life. This mega-trend has impact to Mercedes-Benz and its business model, products and competitiveness. Communication with customers and target groups can be done more diversely and effectively than ever before. New business fields with new services can be created in the transportation sector. There are opportunities in all fields of corporate life – and behind all processes operates a clever IT system.

“In line with our global IT-strategy, we further develop our IT-department into a worldwide organization with strong international teams, representing a striking variety of skills, know-how and foreign cultures, “ explains Helmut Schütt, CIO Daimler Trucks, Buses and Vans, “for example here in Bangalore we already have a significant footprint in various IT-domains, such as a ‘Shared Service Center‘ for SAP applications, as well as developments for mobility services, computer simulations and augmented reality – and we are further expanding our presence”.

Four entities of Daimler are currently operating in India: Mercedes-Benz India Ltd. (MBIL) in Pune, is responsible for production and sales and marketing of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars; Daimler India Commercial Vehicles operates under the brand name Bharat Benz in Chennai, covering all activities for commercial vehicles; Daimler Financial Services operates under the brand Mercedes-Benz Financial Services for passenger cars and Bharat Benz Financial Services for commercial vehicles; Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India Private Limited (MBRDI) in Bangalore is the largest Daimler Research and Development Center of Daimler outside Germany and contributes to various RD domains and IT engineering.