Browse over 9,000 car reviews

Mercedes-Benz launches self-parking valet service

Mercedes-Benz is trialling an automated parking service in Germany that can take the hassle out of finding a car space.

Mercedes-Benz is primed to take the hassle and frustration out of finding a car park with the launch of a public self-driving trial in Stuttgart that can autonomously park and retrieve vehicles.

The pilot program is the world’s first to receive approval for public Level 4 autonomous parking, and is being conducted by Daimler and Bosch, the former supplying vehicle technology and the latter providing intelligent parking garage infrastructure.

Bosch’s parking sensors will monitor the garage and direct the vehicle accordingly, while the technology in the Mercedes-Benz car will translate the commands into driving manoeuvres.

According to Daimler, the system works as simply as “drive into the parking garage, get out, and send the car to a parking space just by tapping on a smartphone screen”.

The car can be sent to a parking space using a smartphone. The car can be sent to a parking space using a smartphone.

The car will then navigate to a predetermined space, where it will sit until summoned back to the same drop-off spot at a later time.

The key aim of the trial is to measure the safety and viability of self-parking technologies, with systems able to detect pedestrians and other cars to reliability stop and avoid obstacles.

Though the automated valet parking service is restricted to the Mercedes-Benz Museum parking garage in Stuttgart, the trial could pave the way for a wider rollout in future.

Daimler head of automated driving Dr Michael Hafner said: “This approval from the Baden-Wuerttemberg authorities sets a precedent for obtaining approval in the future for the parking service in parking garages around the world.

The pilot program is the world’s first to receive approval for public Level 4 autonomous parking. The pilot program is the world’s first to receive approval for public Level 4 autonomous parking.

“As a pioneer in automated driving, our project paves the way for automated valet parking to go into mass production in the future,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bosch member of the board Dr Markus Heyn said Germany continues to be a pioneer for self-driving technology.

“This decision by the authorities shows that innovations like automated valet parking are possible in Germany first,” he said.

“Driverless driving and parking are important building blocks for tomorrow’s mobility. The automated parking system shows just how far we have already progressed along this development path.”

Would automated parking services make shopping easier? Tell us what you think in the comments below.