Mercedes' new MB.OS is the future of the brand's in-vehicle software

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Mercedes-Benz on Wednesday lifted the veil on a new operating system that will underpin the luxury automaker's next-generation vehicles.

MB.OS (Mercedes-Benz Operating System) combines in-house software development with technology collaborations to improve four key areas: infotainment, automated driving, body and comfort, and powertrain systems.

"We are the architects of the system," Mercedes-Benz Chief Technology Officer Markus Schäfer said at a media and analyst event in Sunnyvale.

Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius described MB.OS as "purpose-built but open to partnership."

The new operating system will debut mid-decade on the new "electric-first" Mercedes Modular Architecture platform, which underpins future compact and midsize electric cars. The next A-Class is expected to be the first car equipped with the system.

Mercedes-Benz North America R&D chief Philipp Skogstad described MB.OS as an "ecosystem" of technologies and partnerships designed to future-proof vehicles by continuously delivering new functionality.

"That is what customers expect these days," Skogstad told Automotive News on the sidelines of the event.

With its new platform, Mercedes is hoping to build a moat against other automakers and encroachment by Big Tech into the automotive system.

Google's Android Automotive operating system is gaining adoption among automakers such as Volvo. Meanwhile, Apple aspires to take control of every screen in a car, replacing automaker user interfaces and control and gaining access to additional vehicle and driver data.

Automakers and suppliers have been developing software for half a century, but it has primarily involved applications on specific electronic control units with limited interaction among those control units.

But as automakers transition to next-generation electrical architectures, it's necessary to bring multiple components together, said Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst with Guidehouse Insights.

"Coordinating all of those pieces, managing and validating updates and speeding up the update process requires new tools and different skill sets from what has traditionally been used," Abuelsamid said.

Mercedes' approach to building a vehicle operating system from the ground up is about flexibility, said Michael Hafner, a Mercedes vice president helping lead development of MB.OS.

"We need to own the complete chain," Hafner told Automotive News. "We are gaining speed in deploying new functionalities and we are gaining content."

The new operating system, Mercedes said, is built on in-house-developed hardware and software that will access services and content from tech providers.

For instance, Mercedes said it would build a branded navigation system based on in-car data and navigation capabilities from the Google Maps Platform.

The MB.OS navigation system will combine Google's real-time and predictive traffic information and automatic rerouting technology with vehicle data such as state of charge and energy consumption to deliver more precise range management for electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, Mercedes is partnering with NVIDIA and Luminar to develop a Level 3 automated assisted driving system, currently approved for use in Nevada.

The Drive Pilot system allows the car to take control of driving functions under certain conditions, freeing the driver to do other things, such as answering emails.

Kallenius described the partnership approach using a home-building metaphor.

"If you're an architect, you don't have to lay every tile yourself or put up every single beam," he said. "That is why we have carefully selected a set of partners."

MB.OS will expand opportunities for more over-the-air software updates to deliver new functionality to Mercedes customers and additional revenue streams for the automaker.

The operating system will be able to access third-party apps, similar to the way Apple iOS and Google Android mobile platforms do.

In 2022, Mercedes-Benz generated more than €1 billion ($1.06 billion) in revenues with products and services such as navigation and online map updates. It expects total software-enabled revenues to grow to a "high single-digit billion euro" number by decade's end.