Agreement announced by Luminar and Mercedes-Benz

In order to safely enable enhanced automated driving capabilities across a wide range of next-generation production vehicle lines as part of the automaker's next-generation lineup, Luminar announced a significant expansion of its partnership with Mercedes-Benz.

Mercedes-Benz now intends to incorporate the following generation of Luminar's Iris lidar and its related software technologies across a wide variety of its next-generation production vehicle lines by the middle of the decade, following two years of close cooperation between the two businesses.

The performance of the next Iris is specifically designed to satisfy Mercedes-Benz's strict specifications for a new conditionally autonomous driving system that is anticipated to function at a faster pace on motorways and for improved driver assistance systems in urban settings.

With a slimmer shape, it will also ease the design integration. This multi-billion dollar agreement will significantly improve the technological capabilities and safety of conditionally autonomous driving systems, marking an important turning point for the two businesses and the industry.

“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,” said Austin Russell, Founder and CEO of Luminar.

“In a first step we have introduced a Level 3 system in our top line models. Next, we want to implement advanced automated driving features in a broader scale within our portfolio,” said Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of  Management of Mercedes Benz Group AG and Chief Technology Officer, Development & Procurement.

About Luminar

For its more than 50 industry partners, which include the majority of international car OEMs, from Volvo Cars, Daimler Truck AG, tech partners NVIDIA, and Intel's Mobileye, Luminar has spent the last ten years developing a sophisticated hardware and software platform.

Luminar is the first automotive technology firm to offer next-generation safety and autonomous capabilities for production cars.

Mercedes-Benz AG at a glance

With more than 170,000 workers globally, Mercedes-Benz AG is in charge of the global business of Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans.

One of the biggest producers of high-end passenger vehicles in the world is Mercedes-Benz AG.

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