14 DAY TRIAL // Following Apple’s CarPlay announcement yesterday, Mercedes-Benz has become the first premium automotive manufacturer to bring the iPhone-based infotainment system into German cars. The luxury car maker is demoing the system at the Geneva Motor Show on a C-Class model.
The German automotive company believes Apple and Mercedes-Benz are a match made in heaven, with both companies sharing a deep passion for design, technology, class, combining all three into products that work seamlessly for the customers.
And what better way to recognize this common ground than to say, “What belongs together is growing together.”
Mercedes-Benz acknowledges that “smartphones have become an indispensable part of everyday life, and embedded in-vehicle infotainment systems currently communicate intensively with the outside world. The seamless integration of these two systems is able to provide customers with maximum comfort.”
The German luxury car manufacturer recalls Apple’s iOS in the Car announcement at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2013.
Apple has been working hard to bring the product to fruition and is now dubbing it CarPlay, a somewhat predictable nomenclature given Apple’s other technologies, including AirPlay, AirPrint, etc.
“Now the company has announced the official completion and release of the iPhone-based solution under the name ‘CarPlay’ which gives iPhone users an incredibly intuitive way to make calls, use maps, listen to music and access messages with just a word or a touch,” the Mercedes-Benz press release notes.
But Mercedes is not completely faithful to Apple. The same announcement includes references to Google’s own in-car infotainment system, with Mercedes-Benz confirming that, when the search giant delivers, “customers will also be able to enjoy the world of Android in their cars.”
In fact, the company’s SLS AMG model from 2011 used the AMG Performance Media, which Mercedes-Benz regards as a good example of what an Android-based in-car infotainment system could look like.
“Two years ago we set a new trend with the integration of the smartphone into our vehicles, and Apple and Google have picked it up,” said Prof. Dr Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Group Research & Mercedes-Benz Cars Development.
“We offer our customers an ideal in-car infotainment system. We are constantly developing the connected car with the latest technologies available, so that every Mercedes-Benz driver can use their smartphone in the car in full comfort and safety,” Dr. Weber added.
Like Volvo, Mercedes-Benz doesn't go out of its way to boast about CarPlay's Siri integration, which allows drivers to just press a button on their steering wheel and talk to the cloud-based personal assistant. The reason remains unknown.