Mercedes-Benz's design chief says vehicles are becoming 'smart homes' on wheels
The veteran auto designer was standing next to a rendering of the upcoming Mercedes-Benz Places towers in downtown Miami, carefully retracing the lines of the balconies that swirled around the altitudinous structure.
"You can see the speed ... it's like an automobile fender," Wagener, the chief design officer for Mercedes-Benz, said. "The flow of the lines go around the building ... accelerates it. Geometry is timeless."
As the German automaker expands its product portfolio to luxury real estate, Wagener's resume grows too: From cars and SUVs to go-fast boats, the prodigious designer is now in charge of imbuing the brand's design "language" into living spaces for hundreds of residents. It's a natural evolution of the brand, Wagener said, adding that Mercedes is building an "ecosystem" for customers.
MORE: Meet your new virtual assistant: The AI in your car
Its not alone: competitors Porsche, Bentley and Aston Martin have also partnered with developers to build branded residential complexes in the Miami area, a gamble automakers are willing to take to attract new customers.
Wagener recently spoke to ABC News about the Miami project, how vehicles are becoming "smart homes" and why his successor may be a robot.
The interview below has been edited for clarity.
Q: You're overseeing the design for the company's next big undertaking -- Mercedes-Benz Places, with locations in Dubai and Miami. Talk about the automotive nods in the design for the Miami location, which the company unveiled last month.
A: Dubai was very automotive, very full of speed. The Miami building has speed too but in a different way. You see the speed in the balconies, going around and around, it's kind of endless. The movement doesn't stop. The building is also silver, so it's very Mercedes. The balconies are like an automobile fender.
Mercedes-Benz Places is elevating our brand, our design. How can we infuse our style into the building? We're aiming for an ecosystem -- the car and the home.
Q: Would this concept work in Europe? Would there be the same amount of interest in a Mercedes-Benz-branded building in Germany?
A: It's easier to do this in the U.S. or Middle East or Asia. Stuff like that in Europe is very difficult. You have regulations, you need investors. It would be very hard to do this in Europe.
Q: I have to ask you a question about autonomous driving. The company is encouraging owners to interact more with their vehicles using voice assistants. Will we ever see a Mercedes without a gear shifter or a steering wheel?
A: Probably at one point but I don't see it in the near future. We will always have a steering wheel ... at least in the foreseeable future. With increasing autonomy, the car becomes more of a living space. The car of the future is not a smartphone on wheels, it's going to be a "smart home" on wheels.
Autonomous driving is so expensive and so hard to make it a business, it's such an effort from the technological side. And it's still like science fiction.
Q: Customization has become a booming business for automakers. Is there anything Mercedes-Benz won't do for a customer? Any outrageous requests in terms of personalization?
A: Manufaktur [the company's new personalization program] is a great opportunity. As you said, customization is crucial to luxury and many customers simply want a unique piece. It's a growing business and that's why we invested in Manufaktur.
I haven't seen any tasteless stuff [laughs]. We always try to keep an eye on it so it's tasteful.
Q: Are customers trying to meet with you to go over designs?
A: I have no time for this [laughs].
Q: I want to ask you about those giant curved screens in models like the EQS. They're becoming a defining stylistic choice for the brand. How have customers responded to that?
A: We don't have the hyperscreen in all the cars right now, just in a few. From the hardware side it's very good. From the software side it hasn't been that good. Because when you have a big screen, you want to have great content on it. So we're working on content that is more specific and more entertaining.
Screens are not luxury. You have a better -- and bigger -- TV at home, right? And every car has a big screen. So we have to create luxury beyond the screen. That's why I talk about craftsmanship and sophistication. There's so much emphasis on making [Mercedes] vehicles better.
Q: Some people have been critical of the brand's electric vehicles, referring to the style as bulbous and jelly bean-like. What's your response to that? And will future Mercedes-Benz EVs resemble the brand's internal combustion vehicles, such as the electric G580?
A: The EQS sedan design is purposeful and very progressive -- probably like 10 years into the future. It was not designed to be an S-Class or a chauffer car.
We have an S-Class and we wanted to do something different. So it's a completely different type of car actually. I think the shape is super progressive and very aerodynamic, which is important for an EV but also we took that aero look and made it futuristic. Does a normal Mercedes S-Class customer like it? Probably not. That person wants something more conventional. We wanted to target other customers [with the EQS].
One problem with EVs is customer perception. The customer sees it like an electronic device. Combustion cars are still being perceived like a Chrono watch -- much more long-lasting.
Q: How important is AI for your designers?
A: We work with AI now. You get 99% of crap with AI and sheer quantity. That's the biggest problem -- sorting out the good stuff from the bad. But you get 1% good stuff and we keep learning. It's getting better every day.
AI will drastically change the way we design. I think in 10 years maybe most of design will be done by AI and it will make designers obsolete. My successor will be a machine and will be much cheaper than my salary [laughs].
Q: You've designed sedans, SUVs, sports cars, cigar boats, accessories and now buildings. What's your next challenge?
A: Good question. I have no idea. I've designed pretty much everything.
Mercedes-Benz's design chief says vehicles are becoming 'smart homes' on wheels originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
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