Best-in-Test: The most connected luxury mid-sized SUVs in the U.S. market

 

Mercedes GLE 450 wins the umlaut Connected Vehicles Benchmark as the most connected luxury mid-sized SUV. Mercedes ranked “Best-in-Test” in Feature Availability and User Experience.

Given the surging interest in connected and autonomous vehicles and critical importance of connectivity in vehicles, umlaut conducted a comprehensive connectivity assessment of luxury SUVs.

The benchmarking specialist providing advisory to clients in numerous industries, has just released a first-of-its-kind comprehensive benchmark report after testing and analyzing the most connected luxury mid-sized SUVs in the U.S. market. Mercedes GLE 450 is the overall winner and was named “Best-in-Test” of the umlaut Connected Vehicles Benchmark North America, followed by the BMW X5, Lincoln Navigator, Cadillac XT6 and Lexus RX450h.

In the umlaut Connected Vehicles Benchmark, a set of KPIs/test cases were developed to reflect the true user
experience. Among others, the categories navigation, communication, voice commands, entertainment and remote usage were examined, pointing out pain points in the technological innovations and connectivity of each vehicle.

The 2020 Mercedes GLE 450 came in first with a score of 846 out of 1,000 points. With 830 points, the 2020 BMW
X5 ranked second. The 2020 Lincoln Navigator ranked third with 818 points. The Cadillac XT6 ranked fourth with
795 points, and the 2020 Lexus RX450h ranked fifth with 772 points.

“The Mercedes GLE 450 is the best connected luxury mid-sized SUV based on our comprehensive assessment and methodology,” said Hakan Ekmen, umlaut’s US Managing Director. “The umlaut Connected Vehicles Benchmark is a first-of-its-kind report analyzing the features of connectivity – truly  from the user’s perspective. Our scoring framework enables ‘apple to apple comparisons’ so that manufacturers know where they stand in each single category.”

“Best-in-Test” Methodology Key to Analyzing Performance to Determine the Most Connected SUV.

The umlaut assessment is largely based on the availability of features, which contributes a maximum of 700 points
to the total maximum score of 1000 points. The Feature Availability test consisted of three categories: Infotainment, Navigation and Connectivity. The remaining maximum of 300 points was awarded for the UX score, which is composed of the aspects Feature Performance (max. 240 points) and Feature Experience (max. 60 points). The determination consists of a total of 60 test cases from categories such as App/Smartphone, Navigation, Entertainment, Communication, Voice Control, Comfort, Productivity and Extras.