Daimler, BMW to cooperate on self-driving tech

NEXT-generation driver-assist systems, automated driving on highways, and automated parking are technologies Daimler AG and BMW Group will in future develop together.

This comes as a result of the two companies having entered into a new agreement launching their “long-term strategic cooperation,” which will also involve developing self-driving vehicles intended for cities.

The groups said their agreement is a “non-exclusive cooperation,” meaning it is also open to OEMs and technology partners. The technologies to come out from the joint development projects will be made available to other OEMs.

Both Daimler and BMW said a key aim of the cooperation is to speed up the launch of technologies expected to be fitted in cars starting 2024. Though each company within the groups will independently implement the technologies, the joint project will still see more than 1,200 specialists working together, often in mixed teams. Some of them will be based at the Mercedes-Benz Technology Center in Sindelfingen, the Daimler Testing and Technology Center in Immendingen, and the BMW Group Autonomous Driving Campus in Unterschleissheim, near Munich.

Daimler AG this year will launch in Silicon Valley, California its pilot program on self-driving vehicles for urban centers. Early next year, the company will bring to market both highly automated and fully automated vehicles.

For its part, the BMW Group has been working on highly automated driving since 2006 and is currently testing more than 70 vehicles with varying degrees of automation systems. Its technologies which are under development now are set to go into production in 2021 via the BMW iNEXT project.