6 October 2026: Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI) has appointed Suma Linganagoudar as its new Vice President and Head of E/E, Exteriors, Safety and Software Engineering. Based in Bengaluru at the Mercedes-Benz Group’s largest R&D center outside Germany, she will join the technology leadership team to manage complex automotive engineering architectures and mobility solutions.

Taking on this mandate, Suma will focus on advancing MBRDI’s core engineering capabilities. Her responsibilities will encompass strategic development across vehicle safety, software engineering, electronics, connected technologies, autonomous driving, and electric mobility.

She brings extensive expertise in the mobility sector, joining the organization after a tenure of nearly 15 years at Bosch Global Software Technologies. During her time there, her work spanned automotive technology development, enterprise strategy, and business transformation.

Reflecting on her transition, Suma shared on LinkedIn: “Happy to share that I have joined Mercedes-Benz as Vice President and Head of E/E – Exteriors, Safety and Software enginnering – an opportunity that strongly resonates with my aspiration to work on ‘systems of systems,’ where technology, competent team and ecosystem come together to solve complex challenges at scale. The automotive industry is at an exciting inflection point, and I look forward to gaining new perspectives, learning alongside of exceptional team and contributing to this transformation.”

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