Mercedes Benz announces its partnership with Google that brings YouTube and Maps for customers

Mercedes Benz announced its partnership with Google on Wednesday which makes Mercedes Benz the first automaker to build its own branded navigation experience based on new in-car data and navigation capabilities from the Google Maps Platform. Features like detailed information about places, real-time and predictive traffic information, and automatic rerouting-like features will be incorporated into the upcoming Mercedes Operating System.

This deal is an attempt to give customers Google services without giving full control to Google over its operating system. Mercedes Benz CEO Ola Kallenius said “This is a licensing agreement that is win-win for both parties” during a press conference on Monday at its R&D center. This partnership will enable Mercedes Benz to access Google Maps data for features like automatic speed adjustment before intersections, roundabouts, or curves. Along with these features, the Google partnership also brings YouTube into the Mercedes Benz infotainment system.

The company is looking forward to introducing new features by extending its partnership with Google. On this Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai commented “Our partnership with Mercedes-Benz brings advanced technologies from Google Maps Platform, Cloud, and YouTube to help create new experiences In addition to enabling Mercedes Benz to design a customized navigation interface, we will provide our AI and data capabilities to accelerate their sustainability efforts, advance autonomous driving, and create an enhanced customer experience.”

This is no doubt a step ahead by Mercedes on the way to automation to compete with companies like Tesla and Chinese companies.