Innoviz will supply lidar sensors and perception software to all Volkswagen-group vehicles with automated driving capabilities. In this partnership Innoviz will work directly with Cariad SE, VW’s automotive software company, to integrate their technology into upcoming vehicles.
Innoviz says their affordable InnovizTwo lidar, with its 905-nanometer laser, provides up to 300 meters of visual range with 0.05° of resolution. VW has been making several moves toward boosting their ADAS and autonomous driving capabilities since the beginning of this year. In January, Cariad and Bosch teamed up to develop software for automated driving for VW, and in May, VW chose Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride platform to power their ADAS and automated driving.
This selection of Innoviz as a tier-1 supplier to VW represents the lidar supplier’s third design win with a carmaker; in April, BMW announced Innoviz lidar will be on the 2023 BMW i7 EV, and last May Innoviz was selected in an autonomous shuttle program.
Innoviz will have a forward-looking order book of USD $4bn for this partnership with VW, for total estimated sales of up to $6.6bn.
DVN comment
This major cooperation between Innoviz and VW shows that Innoviz has reached a sufficient level of maturity to be considered a tier-1 by VW. This maturity was certainly acquired through their preceding cooperation with BMW on a similar product. It shows also that MEMS-based lidars are gaining the same level of confidence from carmakers as macro mechanical lidars.