Mercedes-Benz CTO Says India Now Helps Shape Software and Autonomous-Driving Technologies

Mercedes-Benz – the maker of the three-pointed star – is increasingly relying on India for some of the technologies shaping its future vehicles, with engineers in Bengaluru playing a growing role in software, infotainment and autonomous-driving development, the company's global chief technology officer said.

"There is a bit of India in each and every Mercedes because the competence level is so high," Dr Jörg Burzer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG responsible for Development and Procurement, told Autocar India and Autocar Professional during his visit to India for the launch of the all-new S-Class.

The comments offer a window into how India's role inside global automotive companies is changing. Once largely associated with engineering support and localisation work, Indian teams are increasingly contributing to technologies at the centre of the industry's transition towards software-defined and increasingly automated vehicles.

For Mercedes-Benz, that shift is most visible at its Bengaluru operations, set up in 1996, which today represent the company's largest engineering centre outside Germany.

"We basically started with hardware, then powertrain, more hardware and so on. But in the last couple of years, what really happened is that the competence centre in terms of software was really developing and picking up like crazy," Burzer said.

He identified infotainment and autonomous driving as two areas where Indian teams have established significant expertise.

"The one is infotainment. And the other one is autonomous driving."

The remarks come as automakers face growing pressure from Tesla and a new generation of Chinese manufacturers that have accelerated development cycles and made software, connectivity and digital experiences key selling points.

Yet Burzer believes the rise of software plays to the strengths of established automakers rather than diminishing them.

"I see this as an opportunity," he said.

Mercedes-Benz is working with NVIDIA on future software architectures while advancing its Level 2++ driver-assistance systems and developing Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous-driving capabilities.

According to Burzer, the challenge is no longer simply writing software but integrating it into increasingly complex vehicles.

"We are, to my knowledge, one of the only OEMs that do Level 2++ with traditional combustion engines," he said.

Many of the industry's most advanced driver-assistance systems have been introduced first on dedicated EV platforms, where software has fewer mechanical systems to manage. Mercedes-Benz is deploying similar technologies across combustion-engine, hybrid and electric vehicles.

"To bring a software stack into a combustion-engine environment where you have a transmission and an engine is more complicated than on the EV side."

For Burzer, that complexity remains an advantage for manufacturers with deep engineering expertise.

"This is the beauty of competence and tradition. You need to know how this reacts and how the software stack interacts with traditional vehicle technologies."

Autonomous driving is another area where Mercedes-Benz sees India making a growing contribution.

The company continues to invest in simulation, validation and software development as it pushes towards higher levels of vehicle automation.

"AI is one of the most important topics," Burzer said.

"You don't always have to go on the street. You can basically do that virtually as well."

Mercedes-Benz's approach to autonomous driving also differs from some rivals.

While a number of manufacturers are moving towards camera-only perception systems, Mercedes-Benz continues to employ multiple sensing technologies.

"We have radars. We have mid-range radar. We have ultrasonic sensors. We have cameras. That's our philosophy."

The company also combines a conventional rules-based perception stack with a data-driven model trained on real-world driving behaviour.

"If this end-to-end system doesn't know what to do, then it falls back to the classic stack."

Despite the growing focus on software, Burzer was equally emphatic that hardware engineering remains central to Mercedes-Benz's identity.

"It's not only software," he said.

The Bengaluru centre continues to support hardware development, testing, manufacturing simulations and engineering activities alongside software programmes.

"We have simulation on sheet-metal forming and welding in India."

For Burzer, the increasing complexity of modern vehicles means no single location can develop a vehicle in isolation.

"Automotive engineering is the ultimate teamwork."

As software, electronics, manufacturing and vehicle engineering become more tightly linked, automakers are spreading responsibilities across global teams rather than concentrating them in one geography.

That shift is helping elevate India's role inside Mercedes-Benz.

For a market that accounts for a small share of the company's global sales, its contribution to the technologies shaping future Mercedes-Benz vehicles is becoming increasingly significant.