PressClub Asia · Article.
BMW Group and Daimler AG to jointly develop next-generation technologies for automated driving
Fri Mar 01 03:30:46 CET 2019 Press Kit
+ Long-term strategic cooperation + Next generation of technologies for driver assistance systems and highly automated driving + Flexible platform and shorter innovation cycles + Technology to be market ready by mid-2020s + Klaus Fröhlich: Consistent pursuit of scalable platform strategy and pooling of expertise from two technology leaders + Ola Källenius: Working with the right partners, we want to continue enhancing this technology.
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Munich/Stuttgart . The BMW Group and Daimler AG are to join forces on automated driving. Initially, the focus will be on advancing the development of next-generation technologies for driver assistance systems, automated driving on highways and parking features (up to SAE Level 4). The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop this technology, which is key for future mobility. The BMW Group and Daimler AG view their partnership as a long-term, strategic cooperation and aim to make next-level technologies widely available by the middle of the coming decade.
“As we continue to pursue our strategy, we are combining the expertise of two technology leaders. At the BMW Group, long-term partnerships within a flexible, scalable, non-exclusive platform are fundamental to advancing the industrialisation of autonomous driving. Combining the key expertise of our two companies will boost our innovative strength and speed up the spread of this technology,” said Klaus Fröhlich, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development.
Ola Källenius, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development said: “Autonomous driving is one of the most revolutionary trends for us at the moment, and the entire Daimler Group is working very hard on it. As always at Daimler, our top priority is safety. Instead of individual, stand-alone solutions, we want to develop a reliable overall system that offers noticeable added-value for customers. Working with the right partners, we want to make significant advances in enhancing the performance of this technology and bring it safely on the road.”
The planned cooperation offers the BMW Group and Daimler AG a number of obvious advantages: the skills and experience of the individual partners and a scalable architecture will speed up and streamline the development of future technology generations. Besides the synergies, new technologies will be faster to market, with shorter innovation cycles. For both companies, the safety of vehicle occupants and other road users is of the utmost importance and a key reason for making the reliability of systems a key criterion for the collaboration. The two partners continue to pursue their goal of being the pace-setter in development.
Joint development work will be carried out via a scalable architecture covering several stages of automation, with Levels 3 and 4 enabling automated driving on highways. In addition, the two partners plan to discuss the possibility of extending their collaboration to cover higher levels of automation, both on highways and in urban areas. These considerations underline the sustainable, long-term nature of the cooperation, which includes the aim to create a scalable platform for automated driving. The development of current-generation technologies and ongoing collaborations of the two companies will remain unaffected and continue as before. Ongoing development of latest-generation technologies and existing collaborations will remain unaffected by the projected cooperation and go ahead as planned. The BMW Group and Daimler AG will also explore additional partnerships with other technology companies and automotive manufacturers that could contribute to the success of the platform.
Autonomous driving at the BMW Group
The BMW Group has been working on highly automated
driving since 2006, and has established a non-exclusive platform with
technology specialists, suppliers and OEMs to take it to series
maturity. Since 2017, work in this area has been consolidated at the
Autonomous Driving Campus in Unterschleissheim, just north of Munich,
and the industrialisation and scalability of the technology is being
advanced with the support of partners. Brand new agile software
development is used at the Campus to speed up development of the
platform and set new industry standards. Around the world, more than
70 test vehicles are trialling state-of-the-art technology. They
collect data in order to improve machine learning with artificial
intelligence through simulations and test new Level 2 - 5 functions
out on the road. The generation of technologies that is currently
under development will go into series production as Level 3 automation
in 2021 in the BMW iNEXT where it will also be Level 4 enabled for
pilot projects.
Autonomous driving at Daimler AG
Daimler AG has
been working on series development projects not only for specific
Level 3 vehicles but also for Levels 4 and 5. Long a leader in active
safety systems, it programmed its systems largely in-house right from
the very beginning. 2019 will see the launch in San José, Silicon
Valley, of its first pilot programme, with Bosch, on self-driving
vehicles (Levels 4/5) in urban environments. This will be the next
milestone within the existing cooperation between both partners and
the cooperation will continue as planned. Early next decade, Daimler
will bring to the market not only highly automated (Level 3) vehicles
but also fully automated (Level 4/5) vehicles. It is the only to the
OEM in the world to be so well-positioned to apply autonomous driving
in every relevant context, from passenger cars and vans to buses and
trucks, and is therefore relying on scalable solutions to deliver
automated driving.
BMW Group | Daimler AG |
BMW Group | Daimler AG |
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current views about future events. The words “anticipate,” “assume,”
“believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may”, “plan,” “project,”
“should” and similar expressions are used to identify forward-looking
statements. These statements are subject to many risks and
uncertainties, including an adverse development of global economic
conditions, in particular a decline of demand in our most important
markets; aworsening of the sovereign-debt crisis in the euro zone; a
deterioration of our funding possibilities on the credit and financial
markets; events of force majeure including natural disasters, acts of
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our sales, purchasing, production or financial services activities;
changes in currency exchange rates; a shift in consumer preference
towards smaller, lower margin vehicles; or a possible lack of
acceptance of our products or services which limits our ability to
achieve prices as well as to adequately utilize our production
capacities; price increases in fuel or raw materials; disruption of
production due to shortages of materials, labor strikes, or supplier
insolvencies; a decline in resale prices of used vehicles; the
effective implementation of cost-reduction and efficiency-optimization
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governmental investigations and the conclusion of pending or
threatened future legal proceedings; and other risks and
uncertainties, some of which we describe under the heading “Risk
Report” in Daimler’s most recent Annual Report. If any of these risks
and uncertainties materialize, or if the assumptions underlying any of
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results may be materially different from those we express or imply by
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The BMW Group at a Glance
With its four brands
BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s
leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also
provides premium financial and mobility services. The BMW Group
production network comprises 30 production and assembly facilities in
14 countries; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.
In 2018, the BMW Group sold over 2,490,000 passenger vehicles and more than 165,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2017 was € 10.655 billion on revenues amounting to € 98.678 billion. As of 31 December 2017, the BMW Group had a workforce of 129,932 employees.
The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term
thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established
ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain,
comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to
conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.
Daimler at a Glance
Daimler AG is one of the
world’s most successful automotive companies. With its divisions
Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses
and Daimler Financial Services, the Daimler Group is one of the
biggest producers of premium cars and the world’s largest producer of
trucks above 6 tons. Daimler Financial Services provides financing,
leasing, fleet management, investment products and brokerage of credit
cards and insurance, as well as innovative mobility services. The
company’s founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, made history with
the invention of the automobile in the year 1886. As a pioneer of
automotive engineering, it is a motivation and commitment of Daimler
to shape safely and sustainably the future of mobility. The Group’s
focus is on innovative and green technologies as well as on safe and
superior automobiles that appeal and fascinate. Daimler consequently
invests in the development of efficient drive trains with the
long-term goal of locally emission-free driving: from hightech
combustion engines about hybrid vehicles to electric drive trains
powered by battery or fuel cell. Furthermore, the company follows a
consistent path towards intelligent connectivity of its vehicles,
autonomous driving and new mobility concepts. This is just one example
of how Daimler willingly accepts the challenge of meeting its
responsibility towards society and the environment. Daimler sells its
vehicles and services in nearly all the countries of the world and has
production facilities in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and
Africa. Its current brand portfolio includes, in addition to the
world’s most valuable premium automotive brand, Mercedes-Benz (Source:
Interbrand-Study, 10/4/2018), as well as Mercedes-AMG,
Mercedes-Maybach and Mercedes me, the brands smart, EQ, Freightliner,
Western Star, BharatBenz, FUSO, Setra and Thomas Built Buses, and
Daimler Financial Services’ brands: Mercedes-Benz Bank, Mercedes-Benz
Financial Services, Daimler Truck Financial, moovel, car2go and
mytaxi. The company is listed on the stock exchanges of Frankfurt and
Stuttgart (stock exchange symbol DAI). In 2018, the Group sold 3.4
million vehicles and employed a workforce of around 298,700 people.
Group revenue amounted to €167.4 billion. Group EBIT amounted to €11.1 billion.