Austin Russell, Luminar creator and CEO, with Markus Sch äfer, Mercedes-Benz AG primary innovation officer at Mercedes-Benz’ Sindelfingen, Germany plant.
Mercedes-Benz
Lidar maker Luminar stated Wednesday that Mercedes-Benz will integrate its sensing units and software application in a “broad range” of automobiles beginning mid-decade, in a considerable growth of a continuous collaboration in between the 2 business.
Under the broadened offer, Mercedes-Benz will integrate the next variation of Luminar’s Iris lidar into an approaching partly automated driving system that will be offered on lots of future Mercedes designs. Mercedes’ brand-new system will enable broadened hands-free operation throughout highway driving at accelerate to 130 kilometers per hour (81 miles per hour), along with improved driver-assist functions in city environments.
Luminar’s shares leapt more than 25% following the statement.
“We are now set to enable the broadest scale deployment of this technology in the industry,” Luminar CEO Austin Russell stated. “Mercedes’ standards for vehicle safety and performance are among the highest in the industry, and their decision to double down on Luminar reinforces that commitment.”
The offer constructs on one revealed by the 2 business in January 2022, in which Mercedes-Benz stated it would integrate Luminar lidar in upcoming high-end designs.
“In a first step, we have introduced a Level 3 system in our top-line models,” stated Markus Sch äfer, Mercedes-Benz’s primary innovation officer, describing in 2015’s handleLuminar “Next, we want to implement advanced automated driving features in a broader scale within our portfolio.”
Luminar didn’t divulge the anticipated production volumes, however the business did explain it as a “multibillion dollar” growth of the earlier offer, and a Luminar representative informed CNBC that this brand-new offer is “more than an order of magnitude bigger” than in 2015’s handle Mercedes-Benz
Luminar will reveal the next-generation variation of its Iris lidar system when it reports its fourth-quarter and full-year outcomes on Tuesday.
— CNBC’s Michael Wayland added to this report.
