Mercedes-Benz is to recall 120,000 vehicles in Japan. Including the latest technology in luxury cars has long been a priority for the leading manufacturers. However, Mercedes-Benz has found that its ‘revolutionary’ braking system has faults, and the mass vehicle recall will cause the firm considerable embarrassment. Despite a dented brand image, the manufacturer must continue to innovate if it wants to keep up with its rivals.
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Mercedes-Benz, the luxury car brand that is a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler, has revealed that the Japanese recall announced this week forms part of a much wider probe into mechanical problems with its vehicles. The company already intends to recall more than 600,000 E and SL Class Mercedes cars worldwide to repair faulty brake parts. One of the areas causing most concern is the revolutionary Sensotronic Brake Control System. This technology uses a number of electronic sensors together with a high pressure hydraulic reservoir to micro-manage the brake application process as part of a so-called ‘drive by wire’ system.
However, air bubbles have been noted in the brake fluid reservoir, which may contribute to a reduction in brake response, according to a Mercedes service bulletin. This new braking system was a joint venture between Mercedes and Bosch and it took six years and $US150 million to develop.
Despite this embarrassing setback, Mercedes-Benz has confirmed that it will continue using the Sensotronic advanced braking system in the E Class and SL Class models. Yet the firm has learnt a valuable lesson in deploying state of the art technology; namely that the equipment must be fail-safe before it is included as standard on large numbers of production vehicles.
Mercedes may suffer some damage to its assiduously cultivated image as a premium car brand. However, it cannot turn its back on the inclusion of hi-tech equipment in its cars, as this is one of the benchmarks by which luxury cars are now measured. If Mercedes does not continue to invest in cutting edge auto innovation, it risks losing ground to equally tech-savvy peers such as Audi or BMW. It would therefore be right to press on with perfecting the Sensotronic system once the present glitches have been ironed out.
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