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Two multinational OEMs, Mercedes and BMW, have decided to postpone, and likely cancel, plans for Level 3 autonomy in personal vehicles, citing regulatory challenges and a lack of consumer demand as the reasons.
Both automakers have been in the process of developing Level 3 autonomy in their vehicles, a level of assisted driving that allows consumers to take their hands and eyes off the road while remaining ready to resume control at a moment’s notice. Achieving this level of autonomy is a lengthy and expensive project that requires cars to be fitted with costly LiDAR sensors.
Mercedes and BMW were the first two car manufacturers to secure regulatory approval for this kind of technology in Europe, debuting their products under the titles Mercedes Drive Pilot and BMW Personal Pilot. However, despite successful trials and approval for limited use in Germany, the pair have since walked back this autonomous vision.
Both automakers cited high upfront technology costs and regulatory hurdles as reasons for the decision. These optional systems are limited to certain driving conditions, allowing full driverless operation on motorways at up to 60 kph in traffic jams and stop-start, slow-moving conditions. With limited use cases, both automakers saw little uptake from consumers, who were expected to pay a hefty premium for the service—for the current 7 Series BMW model, the price of Level 3 autonomy is approximately $7,000.
In a statement to Automotive News, a BMW spokesperson said: “Although BMW has brought the technology to production-ready status, no L3 function will be offered in the revised 7 Series. System costs and the expenses associated with validation and regulatory monitoring remain very high.”
Despite the shift, both automakers are not abandoning autonomy altogether, but instead doubling down on their Level 2 autonomy strategy, hoping its much broader use case and lower costs will have greater commercial appeal.
The decision to focus on Level 2 autonomy, which requires drivers to remain aware of the road, puts BMW and Mercedes in direct competition with Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” technology, which has gained its first European regulatory approval in the Netherlands.
Tesla’s divisively marketed technology was deemed deceptive in the state of California in December 2025, after a court judge ruled that the label “Full Self-Driving” was disingenuous marketing that implied the car drove itself. Tesla has made several promises about full autonomy, at one time promising full-blown autonomy by as early as 2018; however, none of these milestones have yet materialised.
BMW and Mercedes say they are still committed to developing autonomous capabilities but are pivoting to reflect market demand.
Detroit automaker General Motors has not modified its own promise of Level 3 autonomy by 2028 in its Cadillac Escalade IQ model. GM is currently testing its “eyes-off, hands-free” technology in a fleet of 200 vehicles.
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