{"id":134101,"date":"2019-02-28T10:43:13","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T15:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=134101"},"modified":"2019-02-28T11:13:38","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T16:13:38","slug":"bmw-daimler-announce-another-alliance-focused-on-autonomous-driving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2019\/02\/bmw-daimler-announce-another-alliance-focused-on-autonomous-driving\/","title":{"rendered":"BMW, Daimler Announce Another Alliance Focused on Autonomous Driving"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A pair of fully autonomous concepts from BMW and Daimler's Mercedes-Benz brand.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just days after they announced plans to combine their mobility services operations, BMW and Daimler AG now say they will team up on the development of self-driving vehicles.<\/p>\n

The move is meant to help them share costs and speed to market a technology many expect will radically transform the auto industry over the coming decades. Autonomous vehicles also could anchor some of the new ride- and car-sharing services the German automakers plan to roll out under their earlier joint venture \u2013 and help them fend off upstart rivals such as Waymo, Uber and Tesla.<\/p>\n

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Breaking News!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cInitially, the focus will be on advancing the development of next-generation technologies for driver assistance systems, automated driving on highways and parking features,\u201d the automakers said in a statement announcing the autonomous driving partnership.<\/p>\n

Both manufacturers already offer customers a mix of advanced driver assistance systems, or ADAS, such as forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking. And some of their products can be operated hands-free under certain circumstances, typically limited-access highways. Longer-term, however, the goal is to allow motorists to turn complete control over to the vehicle and even eliminate the driver entirely, something that is seen as a critical goal for future ride-sharing operations.<\/p>\n

(BMW, Daimler launching new ride-sharing service, other mobility ventures. <\/em>Click Here<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for the story.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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BMW Chief Harald Krueger, left, and Daimler AG Chairman Dieter Zetsche continue to make new deals on partnerships.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cJoint 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,\u201d the new partners said in a statement. \u201cIn 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

But so-called Level 3, 4 and 5 autonomy has proven far more difficult \u2013 and costly \u2013 than many experts had expected. By some estimates, the industry will spend over $100 billion to develop the necessary technologies over the coming decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have learned that the development of these systems is a bit like climbing a mountain,\u201d said Michael Hafner, head of automated driving at Mercedes-Benz.<\/p>\n

That has spawned a raft of alliances aimed at sharing fundamental learnings while also reducing the financial burden for individual partners. Last autumn, Honda announced it would invest more than $2 billion to team up with General Motors, a move that gives it a stake in GM\u2019s Cruise Automation subsidiary. Ford is negotiating a similar alliance with Volkswagen.<\/p>\n

\u201cCombining the strength of our two companies will boost our innovative strength and speed up the spread of this technology,\u201d BMW\u2019s development chief Klaus Froelich said.<\/p>\n

(<\/em>Click Here<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for more about Daimler, BMW getting U.S. approval for mobility company.<\/em><\/strong>)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Ford CEO Jim Hackett, left, and VW AG CEO Herbert Diess show that BMW and Daimler aren't the only companies partnering up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As has become the norm in an industry undergoing massive transformation, the BMW-Daimler alliance won\u2019t be a monogamous one. The two will continue to work with other partners, Daimler developing autonomous driving technology with German mega-supplier Bosch, and BMW working with Intel and the Israeli-based Mobileye.<\/p>\n

Exactly how soon true hands-free technology will come to market is uncertain:<\/p>\n