Mercedes-Benz Wants To Lead The Way To Driverless Cars

Daimler AG's DDAIF Mercedes-Benz division is one of many automakers looking to break new ground in building a fully autonomous automobile. Will it be the first?

Ola Källenius, who joined Daimler AG's board of management on January 1, spoke about this and other topics at the 2015 Automotive News World Congress.

"I think one of the biggest new trends -- new to many, not to us -- is autonomous drive," Källenius, who leads global marketing and sales for Daimler's cars, told Benzinga during a press Q&A. "If you want to buy a car that actually has autonomous drive, you need to buy a Mercedes. The Stop&Go Pilot does [provide], in some situations, complete autonomous drive. Gas, brake, steering -- the whole thing."

Related Link: Did Steven Spielberg's 'Minority Report' Predict Google's Self-Driving Cars?

Driverless Cars' Special Features

Autonomous features don't come easy. Mercedes-Benz employs 12 ultrasonic detectors, five cameras and six radar sensors to pull this off.

"We will take that step-by-step to more situations on the road to a potential, fully autonomous car," said Källenius. "In the next 10 years you will see a gradual introduction of more driving situations where you can be autonomous. It's almost an offspring of the work that we have done on the safety side and all of the assistances [sic.] that we have on the safety side. It's one of the core competencies that we have and we will continue to invest heavily to stay ahead."

Built For Everyone

Källenius does not think that driverless cars will be limited to (or specifically targeted at) people who can't drive. He thinks the concept has universal appeal.

"Autonomous drive is for everybody," he said. "There are a lot of traffic situations [...] where you might want to be relieved. We're not going to abolish the steering wheel. You will be able to choose as the driver. It's not for a specific segment of the market."

Related Link: Google's Driverless Cars Have An Unexpected Enemy: Snow

A Hollywood-Style Future

When will driverless cars perform as well as those in the film "Minority Report"?

"It's still a little bit away," said Källenius. "However, car-to-car communication will also be a part of the equation as we go down this road."

As soon as every car is aware of where every other car is, Källenius believes that it might be possible to achieve a scenario like the one presented in "Minority Report."

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.