Pursuing its aim to be a leading player in the electric driving and vehicle software market, Mercedes-Benz has launched its €200 million Electric Software Hub at the Mercedes Technology Center in Sindelfingen, Germany.

The new 70,000-square meter, eight-floor building houses software, hardware, system integration, and testing activities in a cross-functional collaboration, according to the company. Designed for faster and more efficient product development, the software hub employs 1,100 workers, a count expected to grow to 1,544 at full capacity.

Noting that by 2025 all new-vehicle architecture will be electric and increasingly digitalized, the company believes the highly complex integration of all components is becoming critically important.

Heightening this complexity is today’s vehicle development that now does not end at a certain point. “Cars in customer hands also receive continuous software updates with new and improved functions,” said a company statement.

“The Electric Software Hub is an epicenter of our research and development and at the same time closely networked with the worldwide production sites,” says Markus Schäfer, Mercedes-Benz chief technology officer. “Cars are among the most complex products in general. The hardware and software are decoupled and must work together perfectly. We ensure this in the Electric Software Hub. It is our software integration factory.”