BMW Group Teams up with Baidu to Expedite Development of Autonomous Driving in China

Baidu and the BMW Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). According to the terms of the MoU, the BMW Group will join Apollo, Baidu’s open autonomous driving platform as a board member. The two companies made the partnership official when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visited Germany on July 10th and met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. As an outcome of the MoU, the two companies will collaborate to bring safe, convenient and intelligent mobility experiences for consumers in China.

Commenting on the partnership, Ya-Qin Zhang, President of Baidu said that the BMW Group and Baidu have a long history of collaborating on the advancement of autonomous driving technology, and they have maintained this close relationship throughout the years. The vision of both companies when it comes the future of autonomous driving is closely aligned as they explore the intelligent vehicle sector together. Zhang expressed his hope that Chinese consumers will benefit from access to intelligent and comfortable product experiences as a result of this partnership. He said their shared aim was to accelerate the development of autonomous driving technologies that align with the Chinese market.

Klaus Fröhlich, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG for development, said strong ties between leaders in the automotive industry and tech leaders will play a key role in BMW’s success in the quest towards autonomous driving. He said that BMW is pushing for the adoption of consistent technology standards globally to overcome today’s regional discrepancy regarding speed of implementation and regulatory framework. With the collaboration coming into effect, the two companies will join forces to significantly accelerate the alignment of specific requirements and technological approaches so that autonomous driving can soon become a reality for Chinese customers very soon.

The BMW Group is currently developing an autonomous driving platform offering technology solutions for Level 3 to Level 4/5 (highly to fully automated driving), as well as for advanced driving assistance systems (Level 2). The company is developing this scalable autonomous driving solution in cooperation with technology and OEM partners that contribute knowledge, resources and intellectual property assets for a state-of-the-art concept.
Baidu’s Apollo is an open platform that provides a comprehensive, secure and reliable solution that supports all major features and functions of an autonomous vehicle. It was launched in July 2017 and has unified 118 global partners across both automotive and technology industries. Apollo has proved to be hugely successful thanks to its commitment to enabling developers and partners to accelerate the pace of innovation by opening capabilities and sharing resources.

Subsequent to the recent collaboration between BMW and Baidu on connected vehicles, the collaboration on autonomous driving technology marks the next level of the collaboration between Baidu and the BMW Group for advancing the autonomous driving ecosystem.