Mercedes-Benz is one of the most innovative
organizations in modern history, if not the most! Personal opinion!
(image from: https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/benz/innovation)
Apart
from creating the first car ever (1886), Mercedes-Benz introduced the first electric
car in 1906 and a lot more…
First super-charged car, first 4 wheel
independent suspension (1931, and only introduced in American muscle cars in
the 2000s models) first company to implement crash test programs, first
manufacturer to introduce ABS (anti-lock brakes) systems (1978), airbags
(1981), three-points seat belts, engine electronics to manage the power and prevent
uncontrollable wheel spin (traction control systems), I believe that appeared
first in the ESP (Electronic Stability Control) system that was first
introduced in 1995, and part of these systems is the traction control function
that we find now in most cars with V6 engines and above, apparently all manufacturers
followed the trend, the revolutionary Active Body Control that can detect cross
wind and compensate for it when the car is running at high speed.
Also, it was Mercedes that first introduced
the airbags, and a lot of safety systems like drowsiness sensors that monitors
the driver’ state through cameras and sensors and reminds him to take a break
if he was falling asleep or about to fall asleep, there’s also the infra-red
front camera to scan the road and provide a clear vision on a screen even in
heavy fog, in the latest models, the S-Class is capable of bringing the car to
a complete stop or keeping a safe distance automatically or following a certain
car ahead, without interference from the driver, using very clever technologies
of
radars, cameras, laser magic and lots of computers!
radars, cameras, laser magic and lots of computers!
A 1964 Mercedes-Benz 600, with gross weight of
over 6700 lbs, will do a 0-60 Mph in about 9.2 seconds, we can compare it to a
1974 Lamborghini Countach, that will do a 0-60 in 5.1 seconds, but it weighs
about 3300 lbs, and it has V12 and 6 carburetors (the Mercedes only has a V8
and one carburetor)
“If you wanted to see what high-tech equipment will be fitted in your car, 10 or 15 years from now, just look at
today’s Mercedes S-Class” Jeremy Clarkson, a British
journalist.
In my opinion, it’s easy for new start-ups in
the Silicon Valley to stand out with a new product, because it’s mostly about a
new idea that can attract a lot of interest like apps and websites, and it’s
easy to bring that idea to life… it’s a simple process of coding and relating
to data warehouses, while Mercedes for example released the driverless car “F
015 Luxury in Motion” in San Francisco recently, they call it autonomous,
because it doesn’t need a driver, and on the innovation side, I think that’s
what I call a cutting-edge technology, a piece of miraculous engineering
achievement, while I usually call things like cell-phone apps “interfering
technology” because it’s always trying to get information from me or giving me
promotions that I don’t need or telling me the wrong things to do (some
satellite navigation systems for example).
Germany has very strict laws and standards to
regulate manufacturing quality, and the best example is automobile industry,
German makers have a reputation for high quality cars that are built without
compromise.
For example, there’s a “German board for car
seats manufacturers”, a committee that puts standard description for how car
seats should be like -and they’re quite strict and serious regarding their job-
to make it as safe as possible and -at the same time- comfortable, because
German cars are the standard for luxury and Mercedes-Benz is not an exception.
Parts from “Our Mission” section on
Mercedes-Benz web page:
“To continually improve the effectiveness of
our Quality Management System and our business processes.”
“To continually improve the quality of our
products and services.”
What are the main reasons for Mercedes-Benz to
lead the auto industry in revolutionary high-tech inventions? the company is
based on innovation, from the start when they invented the first car, I believe
it was one of the greatest human achievements in the twentieth century, and the
culture is still, leading the world in this industry, and to stay in the
market, it’s highly competitive, with several German luxury car makers like
Porsche (Panamera), Audi and BMW, even VW is making high-end models, also with
brands like Bentley and Rolls Royce that are now ‘technically’ German
engineered, there’s also Aston Martin Rapide in the full size luxury sedan
market, and we didn’t mention the Japanese or American manufacturers here so we
can imagine the amount of efforts and investments required to stay in the
market, let alone standing out from that crowd.
Also, all car manufacturers now are following
the trend for keeping the cars clean and eco-friendly, so the amounts of carbon
dioxides in cars’ exhaust these days is remarkably low if compared to the
engines giving the same power in the past, but in Mercedes things go beyond the
emissions; the company uses recycled materials extensively in the interiors,
the dash board has wood, that was cut from trees burnt in wild fires, every
small part in the car has a serial number so in the recycling process, it will
be easy to go to the database, grab the information needed to safely and efficiently
recycle that very part in the proper facility, because the serial number tells
all details about the materials in this part. The attention to details in this
company is phenomenal, it’s a real commitment to provide unquestionable quality
that fits the reputation and heritage of the name and not only about how much
the profit will be.
Innovation isn’t exclusive for the flagship
S-Class models, but also extends to a wide variety of other products like the
FT2025 concept of future truck, as we all have seen the advertisement, the
“autonomous” technology, where the driver will get in the cabin and read the news
on his tablet while the truck is driving itself to destination, this is how
astounding the technology can do in reality not in fiction.
“We invented the automobile – now we are passionately shaping its future.
As a pioneer of automotive engineering, we feel inspired and obliged to
continue this proud tradition with groundbreaking technologies and high-quality
products.
Our philosophy is clear: we give of our best
for customers who expect the best - and we live a culture of excellence that is
based on shared values. Our corporate history is full of innovations and
pioneering achievements; they are the foundation and ongoing stimulus for our
claim to leadership in the automotive industry.
The principle of sustainable mobility
underlies all of our thoughts and actions. Our goal is to successfully meet the
demands of future mobility. And in doing so, we intend to create lasting value
- for our shareholders, customers and workforce, and for society in general.”
("Daimler," 2012).
We can see that the company isn’t exactly
living in the past, but using the proud heritage as a motivation to create
better future, and continue leading the world in this industry, by literally setting
standards for what the product should look like, and how satisfactory it should
be for all the stakeholders they mentioned in the statement; shareholders,
customers, workforce and society in general.
I am not promoting for the company here, they
had a lot of ethical issues in the past, like the bribery to government
officials to buy fleets of Mercedes-Benz cars for authorities in some
developing countries –including my country, Egypt, and participating in the
military efforts during WWII.
Another example for failure; is the 1955 Le mans disaster, when the –back then, revolutionary- Mercedes 300 SLR crashed
taking the lives of 83 spectators plus the car driver, and injuring another
120. The cause of the greatest number of causalities in auto-racing history;
was the introduction of the new body shell made of Elektron alloys (registered
trademark of a British company with the same name, the alloy had high
percentage of magnesium, that caused extensive and out of control flames). Mercedes-Benz
engineers went back for their drawing boards, and spent –literally- decades
developing and improving safety features for road cars, before they returned
back to the front line motorsport, in 1997 as a racing sports car (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_in_motorsport)
manufacturer and in 2010 as Formula-1 manufacturer. This is how determined the
company is, leaving no chance for failure.
Yes, some cars have great features, like the autopilot in BMW 7-Series, or the drone/autonomous system in the TerraMax (http://oshkoshdefense.com/)...etc, but all in all, no one has a similar amount of new inventions in every single product.
And for the record, the drowsiness sensor in the S-Class monitors approximately 70 characteristics in the driver's face/physical reactions, to predict the moment when they fall asleep! even in an ICU they won't monitor 70 parameters in my body to know if I was still alive or not!!!
I invested the time and effort on this article, motivated by pure passion for Mercedes and German standards.
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