AsianFin -- Mercedes-Benz has signed a deal with ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok, to deepen their collaboration as the German automaker seeks to capture rising demand for intelligent vehicles.

The memorandum of cooperation, signed on Sept. 23 by Mercedes-Benz China Investment and ByteDance, will cover areas including smart assisted driving, according to Yicai. Mercedes plans to launch its new electric CLA model this autumn, equipped with ByteDance’s artificial intelligence system.

The partnership builds on earlier cooperation in 2023, when Mercedes began working with ByteDance’s Volcano Engine cloud service unit. The collaboration integrated ByteDance-owned apps — including video platform Xigua, news portal Jinri Toutiao, and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok — into Mercedes vehicles.