The A-class introduces a new infotainment system, Mercedes-Benz User Experience, or MBUX for short. (Which you pronounce M-B-U-X, rather than M-bucks, since the latter sounds like a Marlboro Miles promotion.) Its signature feature is its ability to understand conversational language, à la Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, or Google’s Assistant. Benz’s version of this technology is both embedded in the car as well as dependent on the cloud, so certain features always work while others require a data connection. Predictably, you wake the cyber helper by saying, “Hey, Mercedes.”
While this parlor trick will no doubt wow in the showroom, we found the system somewhat limited. It did well in reporting baseball scores, but some simple commands, such as “Hey, Mercedes, turn off the radio,” went unheeded. Crucially, when MBUX doesn’t…
