Google and Mercedes just showed us what Gemini can do in a car

Just yesterday, we got an early look at Gemini inside Google Maps, and now, Google and Mercedes-Benz are giving us a first glimpse at how Gemini will soon be built directly into cars.

Mercedes-Benz and Google Cloud first announced their partnership in January, revealing plans to integrate Gemini-powered conversational capabilities into the MBUX Virtual Assistant in the upcoming Mercedes CLA. The two companies have now demonstrated how it all works, not through a standard press release, but via a video showing Mercedes’ Chief Software Officer, Magnus Östberg, and Google Cloud’s Head of Automotive, Steve Basra, taking the new CLA for a test drive around Google’s campus.

Right away, you can see what a difference Gemini makes compared to the Google Assistant. The upgraded MBUX Virtual Assistant understands follow-up questions and engages in natural, context-aware conversations without requiring the driver to touch the console. During the demo, Östberg starts by asking the car to navigate to a specific address, then follows up by requesting nearby coffee shops. The assistant displays a list of options, even recommending one in particular. When Östberg asks whether that cafe serves pastries, the system immediately responds, pulling out accurate details directly from Google Maps to ensure both navigation and business information are precise. The interaction feels pretty seamless, just like Gemini Live conversations on phones.

Later, when Basra joins the drive, he asks the Gemini-powered assistant to find an Italian restaurant and check whether it has a good wine list. The car then offers to call the restaurant so he can ask about their selection, showing yet another example of how naturally the Gemini-powered assistant handles conversational tasks.

That’s about as much as Google and Mercedes revealed in the video, but even this short demo gives us a good sense of Gemini’s in-car experience that Google first announced a few months ago.

According to Google, the Mercedes CLA will be the first production vehicle to feature this particular technology, with a US launch planned before the end of 2025.

Back in May, Google announced that Gemini would be coming to both Android Auto and cars with Google built-in. At the time, the company said Gemini would roll out to Android Auto-supported vehicles “in the coming months,” and to cars with Google built-in “later this year,” including models like the new Lincoln Nautilus, Renault R5, and Honda Passport.

However, that rollout hasn’t materialized yet. In July, we noticed that Android Auto had quietly started replacing references to “Google Assistant,” signaling Google’s ongoing transition from Assistant to Gemini across its ecosystem. Still, there’s no clear timeline for when Gemini will officially start arriving on Android Auto or cars with Google built-in. It’s possible we’ll see it launch after the technology debuts in the Mercedes CLA.