Valeo Group | 29 May, 2023 | 5 min
On May 29th, Valeo and DiDi Autonomous Driving announced a new strategic cooperation and investment agreement. Valeo intends to invest in DiDi Autonomous Driving and the two partners will develop intelligent safety solutions for L4 robotaxis together.
Valeo and DiDi Autonomous Driving will bring together their expertise to provide passengers with safe, reliable, comfortable and cost-effective autonomous driving services. By investing in DiDi Autonomous Driving, Valeo intends to take this strategic partnership one step further and to support the long-term development of a key player in the future of autonomous driving.
In particular, they will set up a joint research and development team to work on safety systems for L4 robotaxis. To offer extra safety to users, Valeo and DiDi Autonomous Driving will complement the main system of L4 standard technology that allows the robotaxi to navigate autonomously and safely, with another set of hardware and software. This Automated Safety Pilot will provide redundancy to the main system in case of a sudden failure, as well as customized safety features designed for specific operation scenarios. This customized intelligent safety solution will be able to take over and control the robotaxi to execute actions to ensure the safety of both passengers and other road users. This intelligent safety solution will be initially deployed in DiDi Autonomous Driving’s L4 Robotaxis.
Geoffrey BOUQUOT, Valeo Executive Vice President Strategy and CTO said, “Valeo has been developing leading technologies to reach and support L4 autonomous driving for many years. DiDi Autonomous Driving, with its strong focus on shared mobility, holds a leading edge in technology R&D and operational capabilities. Today, we are proud to sign this agreement to invest in DiDi Autonomous Driving and join our R&D efforts to develop safety solutions. This strategic partnership will contribute to Valeo’s commitment to offer solutions for smart, safe and affordable mobility.“
According to Meng Xing, COO of DiDi Autonomous Driving, “We are fully committed to promoting the mass production and commercialization plan, in which safety has always been the first priority. Valeo has continued to innovate for a century, and has accumulated rich experience in mass production of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Autonomous Driving Systems (ADS). The strategic partnership with Valeo enables us to achieve major breakthroughs in the standardizing and scaling of key modules of autonomous driving systems, to further improve the overall system safety of L4 Robotaxis, and to provide passengers with high-quality driverless mobility services. Together, we aim to accelerate the commercialization of autonomous driving technology.”
About Valeo
As a technology company and partner to all automakers and new mobility players, Valeo is innovating to make mobility cleaner, safer and smarter. Valeo enjoys technological and industrial leadership in electrification, driving assistance systems, reinvention of the interior experience and lighting everywhere. These four areas, vital to the transformation of mobility, are the Group’s growth drivers.
Valeo in figures: 20 billion euros in sales in 2022 ; 109,900 employees at December 31, 2022 ; 29 countries, 183 plants, 21 research centers, 44 development centers, 18 distribution platforms.
Valeo is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange.
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About DiDi Autonomous Driving
DiDi Autonomous Driving is one of the first domestic technology companies to enter the L4 autonomous driving field. Relying on the global outstanding travel platform, focuses on L4 autonomous driving technology research and development, product application and related business development in shared travel scenarios, and has formed leading technology and operation capabilities. The current team size is over 900 people, with over 200 self-driving vehicles in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other cities. Since June 2020, when the company first launched its manned test service for the public in Shanghai, Drip has been operating safely for more than 1,000 consecutive days, with mixed dispatch in the operating areas of Shanghai and Guangzhou.
For large-scale unmanned operation scenarios, DiDi Autonomous Driving has built the first 24-hour autopilot automatic operation and maintenance center, Huijang Port, with a 90% automation rate of the whole process. In April this year, DiDi Autonomous Driving developed its own industry’s first mass-produced three-domain fusion computing platform Orca Whale and joined hands with industry partners to develop a 2K image-level high-precision LiDAR. At present, DiDi Autonomous Driving is comprehensively promoting the mass production of driverless new energy vehicles, providing users with safe, economical and comfortable travel services and creating greater value for society.