Hot! Mercedes-Benz, What's Next?

[Sunny]

It's for investors. Were you expecting them to say "We're going to increase our product overhead and create razor thin profit margins. Invest in us!"?

But Daimler is not raising another round of funding AFAIK, is it?. So they are not asking anyone to "invest in us". The company doesn't make any money just cause the stock price goes up. Only the execs and shareholders do.

So yes, a leadership with vision and not worried about their own annual bonus, should say, "We plan to invest more in the business for the long term, which means more expenses and less profitability in the short term. But we believe in the long term it will pay off".

MBUX is on Linux, which they are going to continue to evolve until 2024. MB.OS is just the next generation platform.

So MB.OS is not based on Linux?

is only going to be ready 2024

I would be very surprised if a software project with deadline 4 year out actually ship in 4 years! There is a reason why any half decent software company stopped doing these multi year waterfall releases.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

"We plan to invest more in the business for the long term, which means more expenses and less profitability in the short term. But we believe in

And not only. They should promise, that they will hire the most capable, future oriented personal, that will create products that are beyond any competition, being years ahead of the competition technologically. And not to copy a decade old products and claim they are "first ever", but meant only for the Mercedes brand (Tesla's touchscreen).

 

[Serpens]

But Daimler is not raising another round of funding AFAIK, is it?. So they are not asking anyone to "invest in us". The company doesn't make any money just cause the stock price goes up. Only the execs and shareholders do.

So yes, a leadership with vision and not worried about their own annual bonus, should say, "We plan to invest more in the business for the long term, which means more expenses and less profitability in the short term. But we believe in the long term it will pay off".

If the share prices continue to drop and/or stay at a very low price, shareholders will absolutely ask for leadership removals and or demand a change in plans. Investor meetings are an ask for a vote of confidence. And we're already past the "we've investing a lot right now, please stand by" phase. Daimler already asked for shareholder patience and the headwinds have kept coming- we're at the phase where we know this R&D spending is going to be sustained and investors need to know Daimler is going to be able to survive at all. Why do you think VW and BMW are running around telling investors they're cutting costs as well?

If Dr. Z had said in 2013 that he needed to forgo nascent increases in profitability because they need to transform into a software company, shareholders would've revolted and the board would have sought to have him removed with haste. These investor days are balancing acts and nothing else, essentially marketing in a different form.

So MB.OS is not based on Linux?

I would be very surprised if a software project with deadline 4 year out actually ship in 4 years! There is a reason why any half decent software company stopped doing these multi year waterfall releases.

To be honest I think it's funny MB.OS is becoming such a big deal at this exact moment. They started talking about it in May. What's different between MB.OS and the current MBUX is Mercedes is attempting to (ugh) make its own operating environment from scratch. Hence why it's going to take so long. They want control over consumer data and want to write the software for their control modules instead of buying it from suppliers along with the hardware, creating integration complexity.

You may find it interesting that VW has pledged to do the exact same thing for it's empire within a similar timeframe. This, of course, is going to be a mess when each major automaker embarks on their own journey. We will see how this ends up. This is another major area where Tesla showed how it should be done long before the others, leaving them scrambling. Better late than never I suppose.

And not only. They should promise, that they will hire the most capable, future oriented personal, that will create products that are beyond any competition, being years ahead of the competition technologically. And not to copy a decade old products and claim they are "first ever", but meant only for the Mercedes brand (Tesla's touchscreen).

I don't think you're representing what they said correctly, but please do show me where they said the touch screen itself was a "first ever."

 

[Benot34]

So, they said in a video of strategy update that they dont want to take anything from compact portofolio. Also on QA session they said that they are satisfied with compact cars and they cant look at them and say one gotta go, at least not series, maybe some versions. That mean, maybe, just maybe CLA SB and A Sedan may be axed, B is safe for now, especialy if it continues to deliver good like it has for now.

 

[SKY]

So it seems MB is going to axe manual transmition models across its entire range, as well as reducing the engine options and discontinuing several models once the current ones reach the end of their life cycle.

It seems the axed models will be the CLS, CLA SB, B-Class and A-Class Sedan. Would not be surprissed if the GLB ends up joining that group as well.

 

[Benot34]

So it seems MB is going to axe manual transmition models across its entire range, as well as reducing the engine options and discontinuing several models once the current ones reach the end of their life cycle.

It seems the axed models will be the CLS, CLA SB, B-Class and A-Class Sedan. Would not be surprissed if the GLB ends up joining that group as well.

Its to early, nothing is confirmed, all speculations. Fact is that they said that variants of some compact models will go, not entire series. That can be heard on Strategy update video and on QA session

 

[Sunny]

What's different between MB.OS and the current MBUX is Mercedes is attempting to (ugh) make its own operating environment from scratch.

But is MBOS really from scratch? Or is it Unix/Linux based? I don't know why anyone would start an OS from scratch let alone a car company.

 

[Serpens]

But is MBOS really from scratch? Or is it Unix/Linux based? I don't know why anyone would start an OS from scratch let alone a car company.

I'm not sure at this exact moment, all I have is the PR nonsense right now. Hopefully I'll find out soon. Agree it would be a bit crazy for them to do it truly from scratch.

 

[Cashmere]

Mercedes reverses its EV entry strategy for U.S.

Daimler CEO Kallenius sees "anything less than 250-mile EPA range is likely to be a non-starter for a premium brand in the U.S. market."

https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/mercedes-reverses-its-ev-entry-strategy-us

 

[Merc1]

Bingo!

M

 

[bialkov]

Mercedes-Benz once again world's most valuable luxury automotive brand in "Best Global Brands 2020"

Stuttgart. Mercedes-Benz once again recognised as one of the most coveted brands in the world: In this year's "Best Global Brands" ranking by renowned US brand consultancy Interbrand, the car with the star successfully stood its ground in eighth place. With an estimated brand value of 49,268 billion US dollars, it is the only European company to place in the top ten.

"The entire Mercedes-Benz team is proud to once again be among the top ten 'Best Global Brands' this year, and to defend our position as the world's most valuable luxury automotive brand for the fourth year in a row", said Bettina Fetzer, Vice President Marketing at Mercedes-Benz AG. "The key to our success is our brand's consistent focus on the needs of the customer, for whom we create extraordinary product and brand experiences using a wide range of digital and physical formats".

The Mercedes-Benz brand has always combined a high level of innovation with a desire to offer customers a unique and unmistakable luxury class mobility experience. Therefore, not only do all Mercedes products and services carry the company's accumulated know-how in them, but also something else firmly anchored in our brand DNA, the aspiration of embodying the fascination of modern luxury. This moment, marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, clearly proves that successful brands are more enduring than ever, even in turbulent times. Their clear stance conveys trust and consistency, strengthening longterm bonds between customer and brand.

Focus on the world's best brands since 1999

The US brand consultancy Interbrand has been researching and analysing the world's most valuable brands since 1999. For the 21st time now, the top 100 are included in the annual "Best Global Brands" study, which examines all candidates according to three criteria: "Financial performance of the brand's products or services", "Role of the brand in the purchase decision process" and "Strength of the brand with regard to securing future corporate earnings". Interbrand was the first company to develop a brand valuation method certified according to ISO 10668. This international standard sets benchmarks for valuation and meets the requirements for precise monetary brand classification.
The Interbrand ranking can be found at: www.bestglobalbrands.com

 

[Cashmere]

There you go folks, in black and white. Watch Mercedes go from the most valuable brand to the most irrelevant brand by the end of this decade.


Mercedes abandons autonomous driving: "We can't win the race"


Profits are more important than innovation
For Mercedes, it is mainly for economic reasons that Ola Källenius, as the new strongman, has collected many of the high-flying plans of his predecessor Dieter Zetsche. "The conversion to a mobility provider is passé for the time being," says the Mercedes spokesman. "We will move away from it again." Apparently, the first experiences in this direction were sobering: "You can't make money with offers like car sharing," says the Mercedes man, and then becomes clear: "Our investors expect not only sales, but above all profit." In other words, the dividend should be right – even in difficult economic times.

In order to achieve this, Källenius has, among other things, cut off research and development investments. The cooperation with BMW, which had only just begun, was also dissolved by mutual agreement.

link to article here: https://www.rnd.de/wirtschaft/merce...onkurrenz-auf-MDFJOQVJCJEDTBBDCTVA5N4EBI.html

 

[MrRapp]

There you go folks, in black and white. Watch Mercedes go from the most valuable brand to the most irrelevant brand by the end of this decade.


Mercedes abandons autonomous driving: "We can't win the race"

And in other related news: Tesla fails to pass the moose test not less than 23 years after Mercedes-Benz:

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Now who’s trailing who?

 

[Serpens]

There you go folks, in black and white. Watch Mercedes go from the most valuable brand to the most irrelevant brand by the end of this decade.

You're missing a lot of context within this announcement to be making such a bold claim.

• You may have noticed that Mercedes announced a partnership with NVIDIA back in June. What was interesting about that announcement was that BMW, Bosch, VAG were absent from the announcement. This was a clear indication that Mercedes was exiting their prior agreements with those companies and changing directions.
• The NVIDIA partnership is the path to autonomous cars. Much like Tesla, Mercedes intends to install the necessary equipment in their cars and continuously update them as the software is refined starting in 2024 using the NVIDIA DRIVE infrastructure.
• Car sharing and autonomous driving are not one in the same, but eventually will be complimentary. Car sharing has been enormously difficult to make a profit from at during current times which is why many mobility companies have failed thus far. You'll note that he said being a mobility provider is "passé for the time being." Daimler plunged a ton of money into those efforts with nothing to show of it so far. Sad outcome.

Quite honestly, you of all people should be happy Mercedes backed out of its partnership. BMW was intent on leveraging software from it's Intel/Mobileye partnership that it shares with FCA and apparently that was going to put things on a slower timeline than Mercedes wanted. NVIDIA made an aggressive pitch, now let's see if it'll pay off.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

And in other related news: Tesla fails to pass the moose test not less than 23 years after Mercedes-Benz:

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Now who’s trailing who?

It did the safest thing possible. Very fast reaction with the brakes.

 

[MrRapp]

It did the safest thing possible. Very fast reaction with the brakes.

You mean braking after it hit that animal? What if it was a child or an elderly person? Now personally I’d rather take the bus if I want to be driven autonomously but the way that Tesla has been using its’ customers as Beta testers might not be an issue to them or their clients but is irresponsible towards other road users. Now they have issued their FSD Beta system with the warning that it ‘may do the wrong thing at the worst moment’..say what?

 

[Serpens]

You mean braking after it hit that animal? What if it was a child or an elderly person? Now personally I’d rather take the bus if I want to be driven autonomously but the way that Tesla has been using its’ customers as Beta testers might not be an issue to them or their clients but is irresponsible towards other road users. Now they have issued their FSD Beta system with the warning that it ‘may do the wrong thing at the worst moment’..say what?

And that's always been the difference between Tesla and other automakers. Tesla isn't conservative in the slightest and that's OK with their customers. Other automakers could certainly make their driver assistance systems behave more like Tesla's but they don't have the brand equity to survive it. Too much trust would be lost, whereas with a Tesla it's "part of the innovation process." It's an interesting game out there.

 

[MrRapp]

Other automakers could certainly make their driver assistance systems behave more like Tesla's but they don't have the brand equity to survive it. Too much trust would be lost, whereas with a Tesla it's "part of the innovation process."

I think innovation is a poor excuse for putting people in harms way while Tesla certainly won’t have the deep pockets to deal with any mass claims in case of failure. They are also not the only brand offering autonomous driving capabilities as Audi has offered it for some years already on A8 (level 3) but legislation just prevents them from using it.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

I think innovation is a poor excuse for putting people in harms way while Tesla certainly won’t have the deep pockets to deal with any mass claims in case of failure. They are also not the only brand offering autonomous driving capabilities as Audi has offered it for some years already on A8 (level 3) but legislation just prevents them from using it.

Are you really comparing the A8 AD system with the one of Tesla? Very bold.

 

[MrRapp]

Are you really comparing the A8 AD system with the one of Tesla? Very bold.

Why? Recent tests turned out the driver assistance systems in BMW 3 and MB C class were better than Tesla’s Autopilot.