BERLIN (Reuters) – Mercedes-Benz opened a new 200 million euro ($217 million) software center in Sindelfingen on Friday, its latest investment in beefing up its internal software capabilities as it works to bring the operating system to life. launch its own MB.OS to market in 2024.
About 750 of the 3,000 new employees the luxury carmaker plans to bring globally to develop the operating system have been hired in Sindelfingen, working on features ranging from in-car entertainment to autonomous driving. motion.
The center is part of a broader effort by Mercedes-Benz to streamline its software strategy from a patchwork approach of bringing technology from multiple vendors to core control of its own software. distributor.
“We’re responsible for software architecture and integration – that’s our main goal,” Chief Software Officer Magnus Oestberg said during a roundtable.
“We don’t do everything ourselves – we place value on the partnership, but of course the most important parts for us, we do it ourselves.”
One such partnership is with American computer graphics specialist Nvidia, with whom Mercedes-Benz signed an agreement in 2020 to develop autonomous and assistive functions that will form a part of the MB.OS system launched over a two-year period.
The carmaker has 600 unfilled vacancies to meet its goal of having a global team of 10,000 software engineers in Berlin, ChinaIndia, Israel, Japanand the United States.
Chief Technology Officer Markus Schaefer said: “The profile of a software engineer is in high demand – demand is significantly higher than supply.
In a survey of 572 automotive executives by Capgemini research institute, 97% said that 4 out of 10 internal employees will need to have software skills within 5 years, from architecture IT specialist to cloud management expert to cybersecurity expert.
($ .)first = 0.9204 euros)
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Ilona Wissenbach; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
