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The design chief of Mercedes-Benz has publicly criticised the model’s German rivals, following the reveals of the BMW iX3 and Audi Idea C on the Munich motor present this week.
In a uncommon public sledging, Mercedes-Benz design boss Gorden Wagener hit out on the interiors proven by BMW and Audi whereas talking to UK journal Prime Gear.
“I used to be working for the Volkswagen Group till 1997, then I went to Mercedes,” Mr Wagener instructed the publication.
“That inside [of the Audi Concept C] appears prefer it was designed in 1995. It’s a little bit too identified, and there may be too little tech,” he mentioned, mentioning the dearth of huge screens within the cabin.
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ABOVE: Audi Idea C
“I’ve all the time claimed that I’m an enormous fan of hyper-analogue issues, however you can’t ignore a display. When you could have a small display, you robotically ship the message ‘congratulations, you might be sitting in a small automobile’.”
Mr Wagener went on to elucidate that every one new automobiles want giant screens now, saying producers can not get away with simply buttons.
“However for a mainstream resolution, going again to all switches is not going to work.”
Falling in need of naming BMW immediately, Mr Wagener then went on to criticise the new-generation iX3 – declaring he wasn’t a fan of its giant display.
ABOVE: BMW iX3
“What the opposite producer did? I imply, they confirmed the idea a few years in the past with the data throughout the underside of the windscreen,” Mr Wagener instructed Prime Gear, referring to BMW’s 43.3-inch Panoramic iDrive show which stretches throughout the underside of the windscreen.
“I’ve to say I’m not an enormous fan of that as a result of it’s so far-off it’s laborious to learn. All the things will seem smaller so it’s distracting, and also you want a tool to function it as a result of it’s too far-off to be touch-sensitive, so it’s important to put a touchscreen in there – which they did,” he added, referencing the 17.9-inch infotainment touchscreen within the centre of the dashboard.
“So it’s a reasonably standard resolution, and truly a sophisticated one as a result of you could have info on totally different ranges and I don’t assume that’s intuitive.
“I imply, they assume it’s progressive and so they should find it irresistible in any other case they wouldn’t have carried out it, however I’m not satisfied by it.”
The rebuke is uncommon within the automotive trade, with senior firm spokespeople tending to speak up their very own merchandise relatively than placing others down.
Nevertheless, Mr Wagener has additionally been criticising efforts inside his personal firm to utilise synthetic intelligence (AI) for designing new automobiles.
“It doesn’t create good outcomes,” the design boss instructed media on the Munich motor present, together with US web site Jalopnik.
“It creates 99 per cent of sh-t options which are actually ugly or bizarre or should not brand-specific. And yeah, one per cent fascinating stuff.”
Nevertheless it wasn’t simply AI design from Mercedes-Benz that Mr Wagener had an issue with.
“I’m going via [Instagram], and it’s simply… one other one. You get bored, you realize? You simply see it [everywhere],” he mentioned.
“This AI stuff is getting actually annoying.”
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