INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Daimler has been granted a license to test self-driving vehicles on public roads in Beijing, making it the first international automaker
to receive such permission.
The owner of the Mercedes-Benz brand was given the test permit by the Chinese government after extensive
closed-course testing, the company said in a statement, adding that it marks a milestone in its research and development efforts in
China.
Daimler, which also has licenses in Germany and the U.S., said it will now begin road tests in Beijing.
There are other companies
testing autonomous vehicles in China, notably Baidu, which has been on public roads since at least 2016
For Daimler to qualify, the company said it had to add to its Mercedes-Benz test vehicles technical applications from Baidu Apollo
Daimler had to undergo testing at the National Pilot Zone (Beijing and Hebei) for Intelligent Mobility, with test drivers receiving rigorous
automated driving training.
Daimler has also deepened its relationship with Baidu, specifically in RD efforts focused on safety and
autonomous driving.The goal is to understand the special requirements for automated driving in China, and to develop an early intuition
regarding local technical trends, Daimler said.
Earlier this week, Baidu announced an update to itsApollo autonomous driving system, which
is capable of Level 4 operations,a designation by automotive engineering associationSAE International that means the vehicles take over all
driving in certain conditions.
The Apollo program is an open-source autonomous driving platform that has been under development for
years.Baidu isn&t interested in making the actual car — just the software that drives it.And it wants as many companies as possible to use
Some 116 partners are now on the Apollo platform, including new partners Jaguar Land Rover, Valeo, Byton, Leopard Imaging and Suning
