The Daimler AG and BMW Group will work together to develop next-generation technologies for automated driving, the companies announced on Thursday, Feb. 28.

The initial focus of the companies’ partnership will be advancing the development of next-generation technologies for driver assistance systems, automated driving on highways and parking features (up to SAE Level 4).

With this in mind, Daimler and BMW have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop this technology, noting that they view their partnership as a “long-term, strategic cooperation,” with a goal of making next-level technologies widely available by the middle of the next decade.

“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,” says Ola Källenius, member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development.

“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.” 

Through their partnership, the Daimler AG and BMW Group will have the skills and experience of the individual partners, as well as a scalable architecture that will speed up and streamline the development of future technology generations.

The companies also note that new technologies will come to market faster, with shorter innovation cycles.

Joint development work will be conducted through a scalable architecture that covers several stages of automation, with Levels 3 and 4 enabling automated driving on highways. Additionally, the companies 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 companies say.

Daimler and BMW point out that the development of current-generation technologies and ongoing collaborations between them will remain unaffected and continue as before. Ongoing development of latest-generation technologies and existing collaborations will also remain unaffected by the projected cooperation and go ahead as planned.

The Daimler AG and BMW Group will also explore partnerships with other technology companies and automotive manufacturers that could contribute to the success of the platform.