Luminar have announced a strategic partnership with SAIC, China’s largest auto maker. Luminar’s Iris lidar and components from their Sentinel software system will underpin the autonomous capabilities and advanced safety features in SAIC’s new R-brand EVs, expected to begin series production with Luminar starting in 2022, with the parties’ longer-term goal being widespread standardisation across all vehicle ranges.
As part of the close collaboration, Luminar say they will also be establishing an office in Shanghai alongside SAIC.
The companies say the partnership will deliver the first autonomous production vehicles in China, establishing SAIC’s technology leadership and Luminar’s production launch in the region. Luminar say their Iris lidar will be seamlessly integrated into the roofline of the vehicles at the optimal vantage point, while acting symbolically as a crown of the vehicle for safety and autonomy. Certain software components in Luminar’s Sentinel solution, including object detection, classification and tracking, will also be integrated into R brand, helping to enable planned highway autonomy and proactive safety capabilities on the vehicles.
SAIC VP Yang Xiaodong says “Our new R brand line of vehicles will combine the best technology with luxury and comfort, and autonomous capabilities are central to that vision. The only autonomous vehicle company we seriously considered was Luminar—they are in a league of their own in lidar technology and software, uniquely enabling us to achieve our vision in series production”.
