BMW CEO Harald Krüger. Photo credit: BMW

German automakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz have put on hold a partnership they entered into to jointly work on self-driving technology. Both companies say they arrived at the decision to halt the partnership “following extensive review”. They’ll both now concentrate on their respective self-driving efforts and may even seek new partners in future time. A joint statement from both automakers noted that “the [current] timing is not right for successful implementation of the [self-driving] cooperation.”

BMW and Mercedes will still maintain existing partnerships in other automotive areas. Both companies are in no way new to working with each other, having collaborated extensively in the past. According to both automakers, there stands a possibility of the now halted self-driving partnership to return in future time.

Currently, BMW partners with companies including Intel, FCA, and Ansys for self-driving development. Daimler also has self-driving partnerships with other companies, one of them being German engineering giant Bosch. The automaker has also invested in several self-driving startups and even acquired one (Torc Robotics). BMW and Daimler have respectively expensed sizeable amounts on the development of self-driving technology.