Mercedes-Benz is developing a robotaxi programme around its new S-Class through collaborations with technology firms and mobility operators across several regions.
The German luxury automaker said the S-Class will form the central vehicle platform, pointing to its redundant systems for steering, braking, computing and power supply.
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Combined with the company’s MB.OS operating system, the setup is intended to underpin driverless shuttle operations in markets spanning America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Mercedes-Benz Group member of the board of management, CTO and development & purchasing head Jörg Burzer said: “Mercedes-Benz is a pioneer in safe autonomous driving. The next step in our roadmap is to enable a robotaxi service based on the new S-Class. To achieve this goal, we have strong, industry-leading companies at our side as partners. For us, these collaborations mark our entry into the robotaxi market – with the S-Class and MB. OS as the perfect platform.”
One of the initiatives involves work with NVIDIA and Uber.
Under that arrangement, NVIDIA will deploy its DRIVE Hyperion architecture and DRIVE AV Level 4 software, alongside NVIDIA Alpamayo’s artificial-intelligence models, simulation tools and data resources.
Mercedes-Benz and NVIDIA are also jointly developing driver assistance systems, with future generations of the carmaker’s advanced driver assistance features expected to draw on NVIDIA’s AI software capabilities.
Separately, the group is pursuing another Level four project with Momenta to create robotaxi services based on the S-Class.
Mobility provider Lumo, a subsidiary of tech company K2, plans to introduce the vehicles first in Abu Dhabi, where public-road testing is scheduled before the end of this year, followed by deployments in additional cities.
Recently, Mercedes-Benz announced its plan to launch ten new and facelifted passenger vehicles in South Korea in 2026, as it looks to strengthen its line-up of electrified vehicles in one of Asia’s largest imported vehicle markets.
