Automotive Design & Production is the one media brand invested in delivering your message in print, online, via email, and in-person to the right automotive industry professionals at the right time.
Issue link: https://adp.epubxp.com/i/644481
THE FUTURE OF MERCEDES DESIGN In January 2015 at CES, Mercedes unveiled its futuristic, autonomous vehicle concept, the F 015. There's the clean exterior surface and an interior that is more akin to an advanced media room than an automobile. Yet contrast that with something like the Google Car, with its organic shape that seems to have more afliation with a Peeps marshmallow candy than a vehicle like the F 015. Let's posit that an autonomous vehicle is likely to be a shared vehicle. After all, part of the argument of a new mobility strategy has it that when someone isn't using their car, someone else might take advantage of its availability, and given that the car can operate autonomously, then a few taps on the surface of a smartphone can get the car to where it is required. So this would change the nature of car ownership. And conceivably make the exterior of the car less important than The Mercedes F 015 concept vehicle is a vision of what an autonomous vehicle from Stuttgart might look like. It is as expressive as it is technologically advanced. the interior (after all, this is something that is not necessarily representative of the person inside as is the case with vehicles that are driven, not just occupied). Does the autonomous future—and realize that Mercedes is at the forefront of putting cars with semiautonomous capabilities on the road right now—have the potential of making car design less important? Not surprisingly, Wagener doesn't think so, particularly in the segment of the market where Mercedes certainly has sterling credentials: "We will maintain the luxury aspect of our vehicles," he states. The exteriors will continue to be as distinctive as the interiors. As for the other autonomous vehicles? "They're like trams that run on virtual tracks." And while Wagener could undoubtedly design a magnifcent tram, it is clear that's not something that will likely ever to be found in his portfolio. Does the autonomous future have the potential of making car design less important? COVER STORY