• by Tanya Gazdik , April 9, 2024

Mercedes-Benz is expanding it relationship with Google in an effort to transform key customer experiences with artificial intelligence on Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform.

The two companies began working together in February 2023 when Mercedes-Benz selected Google Maps Platform as the foundation for its own branded navigation experience. As a result, more than three million customers have access to Place Details provided by Google in their Mercedes vehicles. The partnership has also included YouTube as part of the Mercedes infotainment experience. 

The automaker also plans to expand its use of Google Cloud AI at its call center. Finally, Mercedes will leverage AI and gen AI tools, including Vertex AI and Google's Gemini models with the goal of making its marketing campaigns more personalized and relevant to customers around the world.

With the process of buying a car increasingly involving online research and shopping, Google Cloud's AI technologies will help Mercedes-Benz transform its e-commerce approach and make its online storefronts a natural extension of the showroom floor, according to the companies.

Mercedes plans to use Google's Gemini models to deploy a smart sales assistant on its websites this year. The Mercedes-Benz Virtual Assistant (MVA) will be able to converse in natural language, helping shoppers find a car model that fits their needs, schedule a test drive, or even start a purchase. 

The automaker will also explore Google Cloud's Vertex AI Search offering to embed Google-quality search and recommendations capabilities directly into its websites.

The Mercedes-Benz Virtual Assistant is already available in European markets including the U.K. and Germany. Rollout of the smart sales assistant to websites is planned for Europe and overseas in 2024.

For the past six months, Mercedes has also deployed Google Cloud's conversational AI technology, Dialogflow, in its U.S. call centers. Having handled more than a million calls since launch, automated agents have been effectively helping Mercedes customers in more than 30 languages more easily get information on their lease, navigate a payment or start an upgrade.

Finally, Mercedes-Benz has also been leveraging Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform to maximize the value of its customer data, which it manages with Google Cloud's data warehouse platform, BigQuery. The automaker has been using AI to enhance its website experience in the United States with personalized content, driven by better audience segmentation, according to the companies. 

Mercedes-Benz is also leveraging Google Cloud technologies as it builds its next generation of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, which includes semiautonomous driving features.