The AI-based product lifecycle system links development, production, sales and aftersales, and Mercedes-Benz puts the investment at about half a billion euros.
Mercedes-Benz, based in Stuttgart, is building PLM.AI, an AI-native product lifecycle system that links development, procurement, production, sales and aftersales. The company says development time for new vehicles falls by approximately 17 months, with the investment at approximately half a billion euros.
Mercedes-Benz is building PLM.AI, a new product lifecycle management system that uses artificial intelligence to tie development, procurement, production, sales and aftersales into one shared set of data. Mercedes-Benz puts the saving at roughly 17 months for new vehicles, and says the reduction can reach 30 percent. It puts the investment at about half a billion euros.
How the system is meant to work
According to the company, PLM.AI is an AI-native digital backbone built around one knowledge base that links the teams working on each stage of a car. The aim is to help engineers make better decisions earlier by putting the right information in front of the right people at the right moment. The company says its quality and safety standards will not change, and that cars built this way will keep the same craftsmanship, engineering and desirability as before. They will simply reach buyers sooner. It also sees new potential in aftersales, as product, service and operating data are linked together.
AI agents already help with tasks such as material cost optimisation, certification, fault detection and software support. PLM.AI links those agents across processes using standard data models. The company's example is weight reduction: a change to one component affects cost, crash behaviour, hardware and software functions and production, and specialised AI agents are expected to weigh those links at once.
Physical testing is another target. The company says AI-powered simulations could cut the amount of physical testing by half over time, while the product decisions stay with the teams doing the work.
Partners and ownership
Mercedes-Benz is working with two technology partners. One supplies an open core layer for the platform, which the company says lets it bring in future AI tools as they arrive. The other brings expertise in AI-assisted car design, simulation and digital validation for a digital twin of the car.
Mercedes-Benz leads the transformation itself. It sets the target vision, architecture, data models and governance, and it runs the global rollout as an agile programme. The company also says it keeps ownership and control of its data, along with the AI models built on that data.
