Companies Working Together on Autonomous Driving Development and Testing for Heavy Commercial Vehicles

SAN JOSE, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — December 1, 2020 — Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (Nasdaq: VLDR) today announced it is collaborating with Ford Otosan on product development and testing of autonomous heavy commercial trucks. Ford Otosan is testing and planning to use Velodyne Velarray H800 lidar sensors to enable safe navigation and collision avoidance in next generation vehicles.

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Ford Otosan is testing and planning to use Velodyne Velarray H800 lidar sensors to enable safe navigation and collision avoidance in next generation vehicles. (Photo: Ford Otosan)

Velarray H800 is a powerful solution that can greatly improve automated safety and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Designed for automotive-grade performance and durability, the Velarray H800’s compact, embeddable form factor makes it ideal for seamless integration in internal and external vehicle mounting locations.

The Velarray H800 boasts outstanding range, field of view and resolution to deliver rich point cloud density required for high resolution mapping and object classification tasks. The sensor will help Ford Otosan to create superior autonomous driving technology, addressing edge-cases for driving situations, including curvy roads, potholes, intersections, on/off ramps, residential areas and roadways with unclear lane markings. It delivers high performance during daylight and at night, enabling the detection of vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and more.

Ford Otosan is already using Velodyne’s Alpha Prime™ lidar sensors, which provide 360-degree surround-view perception technology to support autonomous mobility. The Alpha Prime is specifically made for autonomous driving in complex conditions for travel up to highway speeds. The combined range, resolution and field of view in one sensor is designed to enable autonomous vehicles and ADAS in a wide variety of lighting conditions.

“Autonomous vehicle technology, powered by lidar, can bring multiple efficiency and safety benefits to the trucking industry,” said Burak Gökçelik, Assistant General Manager, Ford Otosan. “Our autonomous driving initiative with Velodyne looks to improve roadway safety by helping trucks understand and react to approaching road conditions and surroundings.”

“Ford Otosan has well established commercial vehicle leadership in Europe and they act as the global engineering center for Ford Motor Company’s heavy commercial vehicles,” said Erich Smidt, Executive Director Europe, Velodyne Lidar. “We look forward to cooperating with Ford Otosan on autonomous driving development and learning from their use of the Velarray H800 in the trucking market.”

About Velodyne Lidar

Velodyne Lidar (NASDAQ: VLDR) ushered in a new era of autonomous technology with the invention of real-time surround view lidar sensors. Velodyne is the first public pure-play lidar company and is known worldwide for its broad portfolio of breakthrough lidar technologies. Velodyne’s revolutionary sensor and software solutions provide flexibility, quality and performance to meet the needs of a wide range of industries, including autonomous vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), smart cities and security. Through continuous innovation, Velodyne strives to transform lives and communities by advancing safer mobility for all. For more information, visit www.velodynelidar.com.

About Ford Otosan

Ford Otosan, with its annual production capacity of 455,000 vehicles, 70,000 engines and 140,000 powertrains, is the biggest commercial vehicle production center of Ford in Europe. The company produces and develops Transit & Tourneo range commercial vehicles, and also serves as the global engineering & production center for Ford Trucks heavy commercial vehicles and their engine systems. The company has all the capabilities and infrastructure required to design, develop, and test a whole vehicle, including its engine, from scratch to the complete commercial product. Ford Otosan (Ford Otomotiv Sanayi A.Ş.) is a publicly traded company, where Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding have equal shares. For more information, visit https://www.fordotosan.com.tr/en

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, without limitation, all statements other than historical fact and include, without limitation, statements regarding Velodyne’s target markets, new products, development efforts, competition. When used in this press release, the words "estimates," "projected," "expects," "anticipates," "forecasts," "plans," "intends," "believes," "seeks," "may," "will," "should," "future," "propose" and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Velodyne's control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include Velodyne's ability to manage growth; Velodyne's ability to execute its business plan; uncertainties related to the ability of Velodyne's customers to commercialize their products and the ultimate market acceptance of these products; the uncertain impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Velodyne's and its customers' businesses; uncertainties related to Velodyne's estimates of the size of the markets for its products; the rate and degree of market acceptance of Velodyne's products; the success of other competing lidar and sensor-related products and services that exist or may become available; Velodyne's ability to identify and integrate acquisitions; uncertainties related to Velodyne's current litigation and potential litigation involving Velodyne or the validity or enforceability of Velodyne's intellectual property; and general economic and market conditions impacting demand for Velodyne's products and services. Velodyne undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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Landis Communications Inc.
Sean Dowdall
(415) 286-7121
velodyne@landispr.com