BMW AG and Daimler AG have signed a deal to develop autonomous driving technology for passenger cars together.

The collaboration, which was announced today, builds on the partnership that the automakers struck in February to integrate their mobility services. BMW and Daimler are moving the services under the wing of a new joint venture that will be supported by a $1.1 billion investment. 

The autonomous driving deal is also a long-term project. As part of the initiative, the companies will assign more than 1,200 experts to develop new technologies for automated parking and highway driving. Additionally, the automakers will build unspecified driver-assistance systems, a broad category that includes collision avoidance and other technologies.

Many of the experts assigned to the initiative will work in mixed BMW-Daimler teams. The development roadmap is set to cover not only autonomous driving software but also hardware, namely sensors for collecting environmental data.

BMW and Daimler said all the products will meet the SAE Level 4 autonomy standard. That means future vehicle equipped with the technology should be capable of driving themselves for the most part but will still require human input in unexpected situations.

BMW and Daimler are aiming to bring the fruits of the collaboration to market in passenger cars starting from 2024. Additionally, the companies are holding talks about expanding the alliance “to higher levels of automation in urban areas.” That might pertain to the plans that BMW Chief Executive Harald Krüger (pictured, left, next to Daimler counterpart Dieter Zetsche) laid out for the companies’ mobility services joint venture earlier this year.

Kruger said the long-term goal is to create a fleet of autonomous, all-electric taxis that will charge and park themselves. It’s a plan that closely aligns with the objectives of the new engineering collaboration.

In the long term, the companies said, they may seek outside help to make their vision a reality. The newly announced collaboration is nonexclusive, which leaves open the option to bring in technology partners and potentially even rival automakers.

Such tie-ups between competitors have become more common in the auto industry. According to recent reports, Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Co. are holding talks about combining their self-driving car efforts. Honda Motor Co. has a similar alliance with General Motors Co.’s Cruise autonomous driving unit. 

Photo: BMW