Mercedes new SV hub

Mercedes-Benz meets Silicon Valley tech campus: Inside the new auto R&D hub (Video)

A look at the creative process behind the new Mercedes-Benz Gran Turismo show car. The model debuted on Tuesday in Silicon Valley at the opening of the new headquarters for Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America. (Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.)

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Vicki Thompson

Not your typical office sculpture.

Click the image for a look inside the new Silicon Valley headquarters of Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America.

Lauren Hepler

Economic Development Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

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A block away from a cluster of Apple office buildings, a non-traditional Silicon Valley tech campus christening is underway.
Instead of cutting a red ribbon, a giant ceremonial button cues uptempo dance music. A few seconds later, a silver Mercedez-Benz logo — about 1,000 times the size of statuettes that typically adorn the hood of the high-end cars — begins to rotate.
With that, the new headquarters of Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America (MBRDNA) was officially opened for business on Tuesday.
The new 71,715 square-foot property in Sunnyvale is a departure for the R&D-focused subsidiary of German auto giant Daimler AG. Mercedes first came to Silicon Valley in the mid-1990s, opting to house a growing staff of engineers in Palo Alto (Click here to go inside the company's former auto tech garage.)
In the nearly two decades since early-adopting automakers like Mercedes and BMW set up shop in Silicon Valley, nearly every major car company has dispatched an R&D team to the region. A fixation on self-driving cars and in-car "infotainment" systems has spurred demand for auto technology. Local companies like Google Inc., Apple Inc. and a host of startups are also pushing into the auto market, making partnership scouting another reason to set up shop in Silicon Valley.
With its new Peery Arrillaga-built Sunnyvale office, Mercedes didn't hold back on storied Silicon Valley tech campus perks. Game rooms, juice bars, an ice cream station, outdoor lounges and standing desks are just a handful of amenities for a staff that currently numbers around 150 people.
Research work at the new facility will include topics like society and demographics, user experience, in-car applications, wearable computing and driver assistance systems.

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Lauren Hepler covers economic development, sports, and hospitality for the Silicon Valley Business Journal. She can be reached at 408.299.1820