Germany / USA – Daimler Trucks and Buses Holding Inc, a division of Stuttgart’s Daimler AG,  has acquired a majority stake in Torc Robotics of Blacksburg, Virginia, USA, a pioneer in autonomous driving solutions. The move extends the current relationship beyond  the existing OEM/supplier association and jointly they plan to combine their expertise to commercialise highly automated trucks (SAE Level 4) on roads in the USA. No financial details were disclosed and the acquisition remains subject to approval from US authorities.

As part of the overall agreements, the Torc team is to work closely with Daimler Trucks’ developers, particularly with the Research & Development team of Daimler Trucks North America Inc in Portland, Oregon. Torc is to continue to develop its Asimov self-driving software and testing at its Blacksburg facility. DTNA plans to focus on further evolving its automated driving technology and vehicle integration for heavy-duty trucks at its Automated Truck Research & Development Centre in Portland. The DTNA team is working on a truck chassis suited for automated driving, particularly the redundancy of systems needed to provide the maximum level of reliability and safety.