According to foreign media reports, on January 20, Lidar technology startup Luminar Technologies said that the company has established a partnership with Mercedes-Benz to accelerate the development of advanced autonomous driving technology for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in the future.
Mercedes-Benz plans to use Luminar's lidar on next-generation car platforms to enable semi-autonomous driving on the highway. But Mercedes-Benz and Luminar declined to say which models will feature lidar technology, the number of cars planning to use the technology and when those cars will be available. Luminar said Mercedes-Benz will also acquire a minority stake in it, but did not disclose its stake.
On Jan. 20, EST, Luminar's stock soared 25 percent, its biggest one-day gain in more than two months. As of the close of trading on Jan. 19, Luminar's stock price has fallen by 20% this year.
(Image source: Luminar)
Lidar uses lasers to detect objects in a traffic environment and measure their distance from a vehicle. In addition to Tesla and Musk, more and more automakers are beginning to believe that lidar is an important part of advanced self-driving assistance systems. Luminar noted that lidar could also improve the performance of existing safety features in cars, such as automatic emergency braking.
Luminar CEO Austin Russell said in an interview that European automakers have been at the forefront of applying lidar to cars to enable autonomous driving functions. "There is no doubt that European car companies are already at the forefront. They started earlier in this area and made a lot of bets on technology. ”
Luminar also struck a production deal with Volvo Cars, which plans to adopt a lidar-based safety system on the XC90 electric SUV launched this year. SAIC said it will use Luminar's technology in its R-brand electric vehicles. The BMW Group has partnered with Luminar's rival Innoviz Technologies to introduce advanced autonomous driving assist features.
![Volvo will test autonomous driving technology in California the first model will be launched this year[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)