Your Future Uber Might Be A Self-Driving Mercedes

Daimler, the maker of luxury Mercedes-Benz autos and commercial trucks, will supply self-driving vehicles for use on Uber's network as the ride-hailing company works to open its platform to automakers. The arrangement calls for vehicles equipped with autonomous drive technology developed in-house by Daimler to go into service for Uber "in the coming years," the company's said in a joint statement on Tuesday. Uber began testing self-driving cars last year in Pittsburgh, modified Ford Fusion sedans and Volvo XC90 SUVs, equipped with its own system. It briefly expanded the test service to San Francisco in December before a dispute with California's Department of Motor Vehicles led to it pull the plug and ship its test fleet to Arizona. "Auto manufacturers like Daimler are crucial to our strategy because Uber has no experience making cars--and in fact, making cars is really hard," Travis Kalanick, Uber's CEO said in a blog post. "That's why instead of building them ourselves, we want to partner with the best auto manufacturers in the world."