Mercedes-Benz Teams Up With Luminar For Self-Driving Tech

Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz will partner with self-driving sensor maker Luminar Technologies to enable fully automated driving on highways for its next-generation vehicles, reported Reuters.

Automakers from Tesla to GM and Volvo have set their eyes on introducing autonomous vehicles, although regulatory and technological challenges remain.

Tech firms such as Alphabet’s Waymo and Cruise also are developing self-driving taxis or trucks for commercial use such as ride-hailing and delivery services.

Vehicle autonomy “is really going mainstream with Mercedes,” Luminar CEO Austin Russell told Reuters, without disclosing a timeframe for putting the technology in Mercedes’ vehicles.

He said the two would develop “true” autonomy capabilities, including improved safety capabilities such as automatic braking.

General Motors is working with its majority-owned Cruise self-driving unit to introduce a personal autonomous vehicle by as early as mid-decade, CEO Mary Barra said this month.

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