Mercedes-Benz aims to be among top two players to scale up autonomous car tech

Mercedes-Benz’s is not aiming to be the first manufacturer to develop a self-driving car but it wants to be among the first two players able to scale up the technology, Mercedes-Benz executive Christoph Schroeder told German paper Welt am Sonntag. Carmakers and tech companies like Uber , Google , General Motors, Volkswagen are vying to roll out robotaxi services for paying customers as a way to enter the ride-hailing business. [caption id=“attachment_5846911” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Mercedes-Benz logo. Image: Reuters[/caption] Google’s Waymo division has completed the most test miles with prototype vehicles, leading rivals including Volkswagen to acknowledge that Waymo is ahead of the pack in terms of developing a prototype. Mercedes-Benz, which is owned by German car and truck maker Daimler is undeterred by Waymo’s progress. “We need to be among the top two competitors who are in a position to scale up the technology and bring it into series production,” Schroeder told the paper.