Baidu and the BMW Group have announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under which the BMW Group will join Apollo, the open autonomous driving platform by Baidu, as a board member. The partnership was made official during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Germany on 10 July to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The MoU marks the beginning of a new partnership on autonomous driving between the BMW Group and Baidu. The two companies seek to work together to bring safe, convenient and intelligent mobility experiences for consumers in China.
“BMW Group and Baidu have a long history of working together on advancing autonomous driving technology, and we have maintained a strong relationship throughout the years. BMW Group and Baidu have been actively exploring the intelligent vehicle sector and are well-aligned in our vision for the future of autonomous driving,” said Ya-Qin Zhang, president of Baidu. “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,” he added.
Klaus Frohlich, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG for development, said: “Strong ties between automotive and tech leaders are our key to success in the marathon towards autonomous driving. We are striving for consistent technology standards globally to overcome today’s regional discrepancy regarding speed of implementation and regulatory framework. With BMW Group and Baidu joining forces we can significantly accelerate the alignment of specific requirements and technological approaches to turn the vision of autonomous driving into reality for Chinese customers very soon.”
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