Luminar, Mercedes-Benz increase lidar partnership

Lidar maker Luminar stated Wednesday that Mercedes-Benz will incorporate its sensors and software program in a “broad vary” of automobiles beginning mid-decade, in a big growth of an ongoing partnership between the 2 corporations.

Underneath the expanded deal, Mercedes-Benz will incorporate the following model of Luminar’s Iris lidar into an upcoming partially automated driving system that shall be made accessible on many upcoming Mercedes fashions. Mercedes’ new system will enable expanded hands-free operation throughout freeway driving at speeds as much as 130 kilometers per hour (81 miles per hour), in addition to enhanced driver-assist options in city environments.

Luminar’s shares jumped over 12% following the announcement.

“We are actually set to allow the broadest scale deployment of this expertise within the business,” Luminar CEO Austin Russell stated. “Mercedes’ requirements for automobile security and efficiency are among the many highest within the business, and their determination to double down on Luminar reinforces that dedication.”

The deal builds on one introduced by the 2 corporations in January 2022, through which Mercedes-Benz stated it might incorporate Luminar lidar in upcoming high-end fashions.

“In a primary step we have now launched a Degree 3 system in our high line fashions,” stated Markus Schäfer, Mercedes-Benz’s chief expertise officer, referring to final yr’s cope with Luminar. “Subsequent, we wish to implement superior automated driving options in a broader scale inside our portfolio.”

Luminar did not disclose the anticipated manufacturing volumes, however the firm did describe it as a “multi-billion greenback” growth of the sooner deal, and a Luminar spokesperson informed CNBC that this new deal is “greater than an order of magnitude greater” than final yr’s cope with Mercedes-Benz.

Luminar will unveil the next-generation model of its Iris lidar system when it studies its fourth-quarter and full-year outcomes on Tuesday.

—CNBC’s Michael Wayland contributed to this report.