In an effort to commercialize highly automated trucks (SAE Level 4) on U.S. roads, Daimler AG’s subsidiary Daimler Trucks and Buses Holding Inc. is acquiring a majority stake in Torc Robotics.

Torc Robotics' team and Daimler Trucks’ developers, specifically the Research & Development team of Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA), will work together closely as part of the overall agreements.

Torc will continue to develop its Asimov self-driving software and testing at its Blacksburg, Virginia facility. Under the agreement, Torc will remain a separate entity, keeping its name, team, existing customers, and facilities in Blacksburg. The partnership with Daimler Trucks will help Torc expand its team, engage into the trucking market and service its growing customer base in other markets.

“Bringing Torc Robotics within the Daimler Trucks family creates a unique and powerful team of innovators to put highly automated trucks on the road,” explains Martin Daum, member of the Board of Management Daimler AG, responsible for Trucks and Buses.

“Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics complement each other perfectly in terms of resources, expertise, and skill sets.”

Michael Fleming, CEO of Torc, adds, “with the ever rising demand for road transportation, not the least through e-commerce, there is a strong business case for self-driving trucks in the U.S. market and I believe the fastest path to commercialization for self-driving trucks is in partnership with Daimler Trucks, the OEM market leader.”

DTNA will focus on further evolving automated driving technology and vehicle integration for heavy-duty trucks at its Automated Truck Research & Development Center in Portland. The DTNA team is working on a truck chassis that, according to Daimler, is “perfectly suited for automated driving,” especially the redundancy of systems needed to provide the maximum level of reliability and safety.