Started in 1996 with 8 employees, Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI) has grown to a 1200 strong workforce split between the new Bangalore facility and a satellite facility in Pune. More than ninety percent of the workforce is in the Bangalore facility which can accommodate more than 1800 employees.
Prof Dr. Thomas Weber, Daimler AG and Head of Group Research, Mercedes-Benz Cars Development pointed out that MBRDI, in 2012 had over 50 patents for innovations in automotive development. MBRDI is the largest Research and Development center of Daimler AG outside Germany and contributes in the areas of Computer Simulation (CAE), Design (CAD), Electrical/Electronics and IT-Services. Mercedes-Benz points out that the Indian facility has been involved in some of Daimler’s cutting edge projects. Supporting Daimler’s vision for accident free driving, MBRDI has developing an testing a Human Body Modeling (HBM) simulation that takes into account most of variables in accident – biomechanics and physical properties of human tissues, accident statistics and the physics of crash situations.
The MBRDI team is also involved in the development of new cars at Mercedes-Benz. The integral seats of the newly launched A-Class and the seats of the new CLA are a few examples.