BMW and Daimler team up on automated driving

BERLIN: Some 1,200 developers at BMW and Daimler will team up to develop automated driving technology, the companies said on Thursday, the latest carmakers forced to pool their development resources at a time of shrinking margins.

The strategic partnership will focus on

developing technologies for assisted driving systems, automated driving on
highways and automated parking, BMW and Daimler said in a statement, adding
that the two companies will implement the technologies in their cars
independently.

The two carmakers first announced their plans

to join forces on automated driving technology in February, saying they were
discussing the possibility of extending their partnership.

BMW and Daimler on Thursday said they had

finalised the agreement and that they expected the technology to be deployed in
mass-market vehicles from 2024.

Earlier this year, BMW and Daimler, Germany’s

two biggest carmakers after Volkswagen, both issued profit warnings earlier
this year.

Facing headwinds from international trade

conflicts and narrowing margins due to tougher emissions legislation, carmakers
are being driven to team up by the massive development costs of key
technologies in which they face competition from internet giants like
Alphabet’s Waymo.

Europe’s biggest carmaker Volkswagen and Ford

are in the final stage of talks on a strategic alliance to jointly develop
self-driving and electric cars. Newspaper Handelsblatt said the deal was set to
be approved on July 11.

In May, Renault and Italian-American group Fiat

Chrysler Automobiles announced they were in merger talks, but discussions were
later called off.

Daimler issued a profit warning in June - its

third in 12 months - saying it was setting aside hundreds of millions of euros
to cover a regulatory crackdown on diesel emissions.

In May, BMW warned on profits, saying it had

had to make larger investments than expected.

The two companies said their cooperation was

non-exclusive, with results being made available to other licensed original
equipment manufacturers.