Embotech and BMW move 1M vehicles with automated driving

Embotech and BMW have moved 1 million vehicles using automated driving technology across four manufacturing sites in the U.K. and Germany since an initial pilot in 2022. The technology, called Automated Driving In-Plant, uses infrastructure-based perception rather than self-driving capabilities in the vehicles themselves, with lidars mounted in the production environment and offboard computers optimizing driving routes. This matters because it improves safety, reduces manual errors, enables round-the-clock operations independent of shift staffing, and supports more efficient vehicle flow in manufacturing. The system has achieved more than 99.5% availability while handling about 3,500 vehicle movements per day across different vehicle types and production processes, demonstrating that the technology can scale reliably within live production networks.