Las Vegas, Nevada - This is not just a self-driving luxury sedan, says Daimler chairman Dr Dieter Zetsche; the Mercedes-Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion research vehicle shows how the motor car is evolving from a means of transportation to a private retreating space.
A key aspect of the F 015 is the continuous exchange of information between the car, its passengers and the outside world, which is why it's making its world debut today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, rather than next week in Detroit.
By 2030, said Dr Zetsche, the number of mega-cities with more than 10 million inhabitants would have increased from about 30 to more than 40.
"The most important luxury goods of the 21st century are private space and time," he said, "and cars that drive themselves will provide exactly that."
FROM 'SELF-PROPELLED' TO 'SELF-RELIANT'
People are always at the centre of such considerations, he explained. Just as Bertha Benz changed more than just the way people travelled in 1888 when she borrowed her husband's engineering experiment (some say without his knowledge or permission!) to go and visit her sister, self-driving cars will also bring about major changes in how people live and work, as well as how they get from A to B.
The main feature of the F 015's interior layout is its variable seating system, with four rotating lounge chairs that allow face-to-face seating. All four passengers can use their time aboard to work, relax or communicate. In order to make getting in and out easier, the electrically powered seats also swing outwards by 30 degrees as soon as the doors are opened.
Six screens built into the instrument panel, and the rear and side panels, turn the cabin into a digital arena with laser projection and LED displays, where passengers can interact intuitively with the car - and the world at large - through gestures, eye-tracking or by touching the high-resolution screens.
Dr Zetsche said the introduction of the S500 with Intelligent Drive in 2012 showed that most of the technology for autonomous cars was already possible.
"We have a plan in place to take the big step from technically feasible to commercially viable."
We reckon the ever-practical Bertha Benz would have approved.