Ibeo Automotive Systems becomes first LiDAR series supplier in China for Great Wall Motor

HAMBURG, Germany and BAODING, China, July 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ibeo Automotive Systems GmbH becomes the world's first series supplier of solid-state LiDAR for China's largest SUV and pick-up truck manufacturer Great Wall Motor (GWM). The newly developed ibeoNEXT Solid State LiDAR is used in the SUV model WEY. Ibeo has commissioned ZF Friedrichshafen AG to produce the sensors and the control unit. GWM has commissioned Haomo Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of GWM, to develop the L3 autonomous driving system. China is the world's largest car market with the fastest growing segment for automated driving.

Following the signing of a letter of intent in 2019, Ibeo has already been in pre-development with Great Wall Motor for a year. The official project started with the signing of the contract by both parties on 13.07.2020. In the future, Ibeo will supply a system that enables a Level 3 highway pilot to drive semi-autonomously at Level 3. This enables fully automated driving over longer distances on the highway. The system comprises the new ibeoNEXT Solid State LiDAR, a control unit and perception software that recognizes objects and thus enables safe driving in interaction with other systems. GWM will be using Ibeo technology for the future series production models of its premium WEY SUV, the LiDAR system will be applied in series starting in 2022. LiangDao Intelligence is responsible for the testing and validation of the full set of LiDAR systems.

"With accumulating many years of technology in the field of autonomous driving, we are very determined to invest in the mass production of intelligent vehicles," says Kai Zhang, Chairman of the board of Haomo Technology, "We think highly of the solid state ibeoNEXT LiDAR designed by Ibeo and it will act as a key role in our sensor fusion system. Haomo will be responsible for the integration of the whole system to ensure the safety and reliability of the system. Through the cooperation with Ibeo and LiangDao, Haomo will provide GWM with the world's leading automated driving products."

"The LiDAR series contract with Great Wall Motor is one of the largest ever signed worldwide. For Ibeo, the cooperation is an important milestone with which we are further extending our global technological leadership in the field of LiDAR. We are the first supplier in China to use LiDAR sensors to enable Level 3 automated driving in a production vehicle there," says Dr. Ulrich Lages, CEO of Ibeo. "Together with Great Wall Motor, we will further develop our sensor systems and solutions for autonomous driving. We are proud to have a strong validation partner in LiangDao on board."

"Since the very beginning of the foundation of LiangDao, we set our vision to enlighten future mobility and enhance the driving safety. It is our great pleasure to cooperate with the worldwide leading LiDAR company Ibeo and apply the advanced technology on WEY platform. Nobody has actually done this before and we hope through our efforts we can open a new era together for highly automated driving in China," says Dr. Xueming Ju, CEO of LiangDao.

About Great Wall Motor
Great Wall Motor is a world-renowned SUV manufacturing company, listed in Hong Kong H-shares and domestic A-shares in 2003 and 2011 respectively, with total assets of 110.547 billion yuan by the end of 2017. At present, it owns four brands of Haval, Great Wall, WEY and Ola, with products covering three categories of SUVs, sedans and pickups, and has built four vehicle production bases in China, with independent supply capabilities for core components such as engines and transmissions, with more than 40 subsidiaries and 70,000 employees.

For further information see http://www.gwm-global.com.

About Ibeo
Ibeo Automotive Systems GmbH has established itself as a global technology leader for LiDAR sensors (English acronym for Light Detection And Ranging) and the associated products and software tools. This technology is used as an assistance system in cars and in the field of autonomous driving. It is Ibeo's goal to reinvent mobility by enabling cars to become cooperative partners in the driving process, thus making transportation safer. Ibeo employs a total of around 400 people at its Hamburg, Eindhoven (Netherlands) and Detroit (USA) sites. Since 2016, the automotive supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG has held a 40 percent stake in Ibeo through Zukunft Ventures GmbH. The company celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2018.

For further information see www.ibeo-as.com

About LiangDao
LiangDao Intelligence is a big data solution provider for perception system and autonomous driving testing&validation, with the core competences being LIDAR applications and multi-sensor fusion.The company is devoted to the field of autonomous driving and intelligent transportation, providing solutions such as testing and validation for automated driving systems, automatic function iteration services driven by big data, as well as roadside sensing fusion. LiangDao Intelligence is a high-tech company with its headquarter in Beijing and one R&D center in Berlin.

For further information see www.liangdao.ai.

SOURCE Ibeo Automotive Systems

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