This significant drop in the price of high-tech components has led some car manufacturers to integrate interesting technological features even to their modestly priced units.
Among the pioneer of this strategy is notable luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz. The German auto manufacturer believes that high-tech components should no longer be exclusive to luxury or high-end cars.
Mercedes-Benz unveiled its latest E-Class mid-sized sedan at the Detroit Auto Show on Jan. 11. The car sports top of the line computer chips, sensors, cameras and software. The car company even went on by saying that the technologies embedded on the new E-Class cars are even better compared to those installed on the S-Class series which is the company's flagship brand for several decades.
The new E-Class brand from Mercedes-Benz has fourth-generation driver assistance systems. In comparison, the company's premium S-Class brand only uses third-generation driver assistance system.
Through these upgrades, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class' new sensor and software can provide better algorithms when it comes to recognizing its immediate environment, a critical feature needed especially for autonomous and self-driving cars.
Mercedes-Benz is planning to adopt the new tech strategy into its future car releases. The company believes that it is starting a new trend that other companies might follow in the future.
Gartner vice president of the automotive practice told Reuters, "The best features were always introduced into the highest end vehicles. That is not going to be the best solution for the car industry anymore. Younger customers want the latest features immediately, and this will force carmakers to change their offerings, and it will change the way they define premium."
Aside from applying high tech feature into its new car models, Mercedes-Benz claims that it is also planning to release major software updates to current car models in order to make sure that they are kept in the edge of the technological shift.
Other car manufacturers are also slowly adopting the strategy proposed by Mercedes-Benz. Ford Motors recently announced that its mid-sized sedan, Fusion, is equipped with top of the line tech features that allow the car to park by itself and other lane-keeping features, according to NDTV.