Mercedes says it can’t win the race for autonomous driving, bows out [UPDATE]

We won’t soon see driverless Mercedes cars.

[UPDATE] Sascha Palalenberg, Head Digital Transformation at Daimler AG denied the Redaktions Netzwerk Deutschland Twitter report.

Mercedes-Benz currently has Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri bottas at its helm. They have won many races and are often on the podium. Mercedes will not win the race. This is because it doesn’t include drivers.

Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland reported that Mercedes is withdrawing from autonomous driving. This does not include the 2021 Mercedes S-Class level 3 self-driving technology, nor the newly announced partnership between Daimler & Waymo to create driverless semis.

Waymo’s self-driving robot taxi in Phoenix, Arizona, set the target for level 5 autonomous driving for public usage. Mercedes however felt was the goal.

Mercedes spokesperson told German publication that they won’t be competing in races they can’t win.

We’ve heard of Mercedes-Benz creating self-driving vehicles as early as 2005. It was also revealed that the first Mercedes autonomous bus had completed a 20-kilometer route through Amsterdam without any human assistance. This was a major breakthrough for the automaker, which is now pursuing autonomous driving technology.

However, that is now the past as Mercedes has confirmed through its spokesperson in the RND report. According to Mercedes, it plans to move away from this goal and will instead use a new strategy for its business. Mercedes believes that car-sharing is no longer a profitable business. Although Level 4 autonomy in terms of driver assistance in private vehicles is still possible, a business model like Waymo will not be realized.

Mercedes spokesperson said that investors do not expect only sales but profit.

Accordingly to this, Ola Kallenius, Mercedes’ boss, has reduced research and development investments for autonomous mobility. Also, the previously reported BMW-Mercedes-Benz joint development for self-driving vehicles was terminated. This was a mutual decision between both German companies.