What happened Shares of lidar maker Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ: LAZR) opened sharply higher on Thursday, after the company announced a new deal to supply lidar systems to Daimler's (OTC: DMLR.Y) Mercedes-Benz unit. As part of the deal, Mercedes will also take a stake in Luminar. As of 11 a.m. ET today, Luminar's shares were up about 18.8% from Wednesday's closing price. So what Luminar and Mercedes-Benz said that they had agreed to a partnership "to accelerate the development of future highly automated driving technologies for Mercedes passenger cars." As part of the deal, Daimler's North American business unit will take a stake in Luminar. Luminar CEO Austin Russell (left) with Daimler chief technology officer Markus Schäfer. Image source: Luminar Technologies. The companies didn't share a whole lot of details around their new arrangement. Here's what we know from the press release and a related regulatory filing. Daimler will "develop and integrate [Luminar's] technology on its next-generation series production passenger vehicles." (They'll be Mercedes-Benz models, but we don't know which ones, or when they'll go into production.) Daimler will share relevant data from test vehicles and production vehicles with Luminar. Daimler will receive 1.5 million shares of Luminar in a series of tranches over time, as certain (undisclosed) milestones are met. (At current prices, that's roughly $22.5 million worth of stock.) Luminar CEO Austin Russell described the deal as a "landmark moment in the industry" that demonstrates how "substantially increased safety and autonomous driving functions on consumer vehicles are going from sci-fi to mainstream." Most experts see lidar as a crucial component of driverless-vehicle systems. Luminar, which went public via a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition company last year, has spent several years tailoring its products for automotive applications. That's why Luminar's stock is up today. Now what Luminar hasn't set a date for its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 earnings report, but past practice suggests that it'll happen in mid-February. Investors eager to know more about the status of the company's go-to-market plan and its recent deals with Mercedes-Benz and Volvo Cars (OTC: VLVO.F) should plan to listen in to the company's earnings call next month. 10 stocks we like better than Luminar Technologies, Inc.When our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Luminar Technologies, Inc. wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of January 10, 2022 John Rosevear has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source