Second deal made with Israel in auto industry following Mobileye acquisition from Intel Corp; Mercedes: Israel is among the top five ecosystems for innovation, digital technologies, new mobility services and car IT, Nov. 19, 2017.
Daimler AG opened a Mercedes-Benz tech hub in Tel Aviv on Thursday, the second massive deal in the auto technology industry for the State of Israel in 2017.
The research and development center will focus on digital and mobility services, including biometrics, security and navigation.
Head of Mercedes-Benz cars, Dr. Dieter Zetsche, stated on the Israel’s capabilities “Israel is among the top five ecosystems for innovation, digital technologies, new mobility services and car IT. And it is one of the top four largest talent pools in the world. With our new Technology Center in Tel Aviv, we want to strengthen our global R&D network and tap into this vibrant mix of creativity, optimism and digital competencies to develop innovative mobility solutions for our customers.”
In March of this year, Intel Corp announced it buying Israel’s Mobileye, the autonomous vehicle technology company, in the largest acquisition of an Israeli high-tech company to date. Worth over $15 billion, the deal was one of the most significant acquisitions of Israeli technology by foreign investors. Intel also announced it will be moving its automotive driving division to Israel sometime later this year to be managed by Mobileye’s CTO and co-founder, Amnon Shashua.
Mobileye and Intel have been working together since 2016 and Intel currently employs over 10,000 in its Israel branches. Mobileye has been a world leading innovators of automotive technologies, including sensor fusion, advanced automobile camera tech, the Mobileye mono-camera, and mapping technologies. The company has been universally leading in driving safety with its Automatic Emergency Braking and Lane Keeping Intelligence.
It is best known for its Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) and Full Autonomous Vehicles, the company working with Intel in collaboration with BMW since 2016 to produce and test the world’s first fully self-driving vehicles later this year. Mobileye is expected to deliver fully autonomous vehicles by 2021.
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