BMW and Baidu are teaming up on autonomous driving in China.
BMW
In the presence of attending heads of government Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, BMW, for example, has announced the expansion of its joint venture with Brilliance. BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) is planning to expand manufacturing in two Chinese plants to a total of 520,000 BMW vehicles from 2019. The BMW iX3 electric SUV is also to be exported from China.
BMW has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Baidu on automated driving. The BMW Group will become a member of the board of Apollo, Baidu’s open automated driving platform. "We hope this deepened cooperation will bring Chinese consumers intelligent and comfortable product experiences. Our aim is to accelerate the development of autonomous driving technologies that align with the Chinese market," explains Ya-Qin Zhang, President of Baidu.
Mini electric vehicles to be built by Great Wall Motor in China
The BMW Group has also inked an agreement with Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motor to produce Mini electric vehicles in China. The new joint venture "Spotlight Automotive Limited" will also produce electric vehicles for Great Wall Motor.
Carmaker Daimler has obtained a licence to test highly automated test vehicles (Level 4) on public roads in Beijing. A further cooperation agreement has also been signed with Tsinghua University in China. The research cooperation with Tsinghua Daimler Joint Research Center for Sustainable Transportation on automated driving and intelligent mobility is to be extended three years.
Seat is heading to the Chinese Market
The Volkswagen Group has also signed Memorandums of Understanding. Volkswagen Group China, Seat and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corporation (JAC) intend to build a new centre for research and development, with a focus on electric vehicle development, connectivity technologies and autonomous driving. The Seat brand is expected to be present on the Chinese market from 2020.
Audi and Chinese information and telecommunications group Huawei signed a Memorandum of Understanding for strategic cooperation. "We are intensifying our joint research with Huawei in the area of intelligent connected vehicles," explains Saad Metz, Executive Vice President of Audi China.
Bosch and Nio join forces
Supplier Bosch and electric carmaker Nio have announced a strategic cooperation agreement. Bosch is supplying driver assistance systems, control units, sensors and the electromechanical brake booster iBooster for the Nio ES8 electric SUV. In the course of their cooperation in sensors, automated driving, electric motor control and intelligent transport systems, further development of components for new Nio vehicles is planned.
The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) and the China National Technical Committee for Automotive Standardisation (NTCAS) ICV Subcommittee also intend to collaborate on networked and automated vehicles, announced the VDA during the fifth Sino-German government talks.