Mercedes Becomes Second Brand to Offer Motorists Chance to Buy Digital Upgrades

Mercedes-Benz has become the second mainstream brand, after BMW that will allow motorists to make digital upgrades to vehicles after purchase. Owners can owners can use either the Mercedes Me app store, Mercedes’ online store, or the head unit of their car to add features to the MBUX system from the first quarter of 2019 for the A-Class, and right from the market launch of the B-Class and the GLE. The three applications for which the program will be launched are navigation, digital radio, and Smartphone Integration with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Mercedes is still in the process of rolling out the new MBUX system. The 2019 A-Class comes with the new MBUX system, and this includes Smartphone Integration standard. It is reasonable to expect that it would be the same for the 2020 CLA, which was recently launched at the Consumer Electronics Show and had the new MBUX system. The 2019 CLA did not have Smartphone Integration, but the option was available as part of the Multimedia Package.

BMW began offering Apple Carplay in 2017 as a dealer option and a USD 300 digital upgrade through the BMW Connected Drive store. In the case of the 2019 model year, the upgrade for Apple CarPlay has become a USD 80 annual subscription fee, which is free of charge after one year.

Consumers will now be able to get up-to-date versions of the features and options that they desire like navigation and digital radio, even in the case of pre-owned vehicles.