Florida-based lidar maker Luminar has announced that it is making a push into China to provide autonomous and automated driving vehicles for the world's largest auto market, as reported first by TechCrunch.
The company's founder and CEO, Austin Russell, revealed at Auto Shanghai, one of the biggest auto trade fairs in the world, that over a million Luminar-equipped cars would be on China's roads by 2028.
Luminar LiDAR-based Proactive Safety pre-collision braking crash avoidance technology on a test vehicle at the Las Vegas Convention Center ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on January 4, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada. - The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), one of the world's largest trade fairs, returns to Las Vegas in person this week under a newly resurgent pandemic that has supercharged the industry but threatens its downsized expo.
Growing Demand in China
With 500 million drivers, China has grown to be a highly sought-after location for foreign automakers and suppliers. Much of Tesla's stratospheric rise has been attributed to its success in China, which receives more than half of its deliveries and has developed into a substantial manufacturing hub for the automaker.
Compared to 57% of Americans and just 36% of Germans, 60% of Chinese consumers polled by McKinsey & Company in 2021 said they would be prepared to pay less than $10,000 for a Level 4 advanced highway pilot.
In response to the high demand for Luminar's LiDAR technology in China, the company has formed a partnership with TPK, a touch-screen supplier to Apple and Tesla based in Taiwan, to establish a new high-volume factory.
Read Also: Mercedes-Benz Develops Own Operating System to Power its Next Generation Vehicles
600,000 LiDAR Sensors
Luminar's current manufacturing locations in the US, Thailand, Mexico, and China will be supplemented by this additional facility, which will initially produce up to 600,000 LiDAR sensors annually to support awarded programs from automakers such as Mercedes-Benz.
As demand grows, the factory's capacity can be expanded further. Furthermore, TPK plans to invest in Luminar's stock to indicate its confidence in the company's potential.
Leo Hsieh, President and CEO of TPK, said, "We are truly appreciative and pleased with this opportunity to work with Luminar, a world leader in autonomous driving technology. "
"This partnership demonstrates again TPK's strong engineering and automation capabilities for mass production, in collaboration with various leading technology providers to introduce cutting-edge products to market efficiently and at speed."
LiDAR is in high demand in China for enabling next-generation autonomy and safety. The 20 million vehicles sold in China last year came from foreign-branded automakers, many of which are Luminar partners, and made up around half of that total.
The majority of the more than 20 production car models created by Luminar are intended for the Chinese market.
Volvo Cars debuted the Volvo EX90 Excellence, the latest premium version of its all-electric SUV, in Shanghai. The vehicle is equipped with Luminar lidar as a standard feature, with the Iris lidar seamlessly integrated into the roofline.
Related Article: Mercedes-Benz, Luminar Collaboration To Produce Safer Autonomous Vehicles Using Iris LiDAR Tech
