BMW China Automotive Trading Ltd. and Tencent have signed a cooperation agreement in Beijing to set up the BMW Group China High Performance D³ platform. The BMW Group intends to develop automated driving technologies and products on this platform which meet the complex local driving conditions and customer requirements. Tencent will provide the IT architecture, tools and platforms for the entire area of automated research and development.

The BMW Group China High Performance D³ platform should be up and running by the end of this year. D³ stands for “data-driven development”, the basis for the development of highly automated (Level 3) and fully automated (Level 4) driving functions. Before the BMW Group begins series production of Level 3 vehicles in 2021, the platform will be used mainly for safety validation of Level 3 and early phase studies of Level 4 technologies. From 2021, the platform should support both post-production development of Level 3 models and research into Level 4 technologies.