Luminar announces 'multi-billion dollar' expansion of Mercedes-Benz deal

In a significant expansion of their ongoing relationship, Mercedes-Benz and lidar manufacturer Luminar said on Wednesday that Mercedes-Benz will start using their sensors and software in a "wide spectrum" of vehicles by the middle of the decade.

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Mercedes-Benz will include the newest iteration of Luminar's Iris lidar into a forthcoming partially autonomous driving system that will be made accessible on many upcoming Mercedes cars under the terms of the expanded agreement. Mercedes' new technology will enable increased hands-free operation while traveling at highway speeds of up to 130 kph (81 mph), as well as improved driver assistance features in confined spaces.

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Shares of Luminar increased by over 12% after the news.

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According to Luminar CEO Austin Russell, "We are now ready to enable the greatest scale implementation of this technology in the industry." Mercedes sets some of the highest industry standards for vehicle performance and safety, and their choice to invest more in Luminar only serves to strengthen that commitment.

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The agreement expands upon the one that the two businesses announced in January 2022, when Mercedes-Benz stated it will include Luminar lidar in next high-end cars.

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With reference to last year's agreement with Luminar, Mercedes-chief Benz's technology officer, Markus Schäfer, stated that "as a first step, we have installed a Level 3 system in our top line cars."

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Next, we wish to expand the use of advanced automated driving technologies across our range.

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The expected production volumes were not disclosed by Luminar, but the company did describe it as an expansion of the previous agreement worth "multiple billions of dollars." A Luminar spokesperson told Trade Algo that the new agreement is "more than an order of magnitude bigger" than the one with Mercedes-Benz from the previous year.

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When Luminar releases its results for the fourth quarter and the entire year on Tuesday, it will introduce the next-generation iteration of its Iris lidar technology.

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