'We Will Shift More From Mechanical Products To Selling Mobility Services'

Jan Brecht, chief information officer of German luxury automobile company Daimler, was recently in India as it plans to expand its R&D centre in the country and also look at partnering with startups to gain knowledge, skills and intellectual property. In an interview with BW Businessworld, Brecht talks about their new strategy and their focus on India and startups.

On your recent visit to India, you spoke about selling mobility services instead of mechanical products in the future? What drives you to say this? Is it because of stiff competition from app-based cab aggregators like Uber?
Daimler with its 130 years of existence has evolved with the changing technology, mindsets and the world at large. We will continue to make premium passenger cars and economical trucks and buses - however we will develop more into mobility services in future. We will shift more from mechanical products to selling mobility services. For a company, it is always about where the profit can be achieved - this is also valid for us. The product as such might not go out of fashion, but as consumers you might not have to buy the product but the mobility service that it offers.

The Mercedes Benz R&D centre in Bengaluru is the largest outside the headquarters in Germany. What is the kind of innovation that is driven out of here? How much more do you plan to invest in this centre in the next 1-2 years?
The Mercedes Benz Research & Development India (MBRDI) in Bengaluru has a unique position as the digital hub for Daimler worldwide. With currently about 3,500 engineers and specialists, MBRDI helps us in the digital aspects of product development, testing and simulations - including large parts of IT. Investment in the centre is mostly talent and people driven and it certainly is a location for further growth.

Mercedes Benz recently tested its autonomous self driving bus in Netherlands. When do you see driverless vehicles become a reality on the roads globally and in India?
While it seems more challenging to drive an autonomous vehicle here in India than in Europe or US, India could be the ultimate testing grounds for this. As far as the time frame goes, we have an elaborate schedule for driving autonomously. We recently tested 'platooning' successfully in Europe. There were 3 trucks connected wirelessly and you needed only one driver. This is much closer to reality for autonomous driving - both technically and legally - because essentially autonomous driving is not just about technology but also about the legal and ethical aspects surrounding it.

Are you looking at partnering with tech startups and mobility companies in India to fulfill your vision of transforming Daimler into a selling mobility services versus mechanical products?
Setting up a strong IT and analytics hub is important. Organic growth is important to us, and we might look at startups not from an M&A perspective but more for partnerships, gaining knowledge and skills and intellectual property.