Automotive technology company Luminar Technologies Inc LAZR on Thursday announced a new manufacturing facility in Mexico aimed at boosting sensor production.
What Happened: Luminar’s new facility in Monterrey is spread across 118,000 square feet and will have an initial capacity of 250,000 sensors, the company said in a statement, while adding that it could be expanded up to 500,000 per year.
Celestica Inc CLS, which operates the facility, is now building a 200,000 square feet extension to the facility for future expansion of capacity to a million sensors per year.
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The shipment of the Luminar Iris sensors manufactured at the facility has commenced for the start of production to the end of 2023, the company added.
Why It Matters: Though Luminar has agreements in place with Volvo cars VLVLY, Mercedes-Benz Group AG MBGYY and Daimler Truck Holding AG DTRUY, not all EV makers have been appreciative of its sensors that rely on LiDAR technology.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk slammed LiDAR as a “fool’s errand” in 2019 while adding that anyone relying on the technology is doomed.
Early in 2022, Luminar demonstrated the superiority of its sensor system through a video that showed a vehicle armed with its sensors evading a crash with a child-sized dummy while a Tesla rammed into it.
The choice of Luminar’s latest place to build its factory is also the same spot where Tesla has started its latest plant, with the first batch of cars made at Giga Mexico expected to roll out in 2024.
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