Less than a year after they started working together, BMW and Mercedes have announced they’re putting their development cooperation on hold.

In a statement, BMW says that the two companies have arrived at a “mutual and amicable” agreement to concentrate on their existing development paths – which may also include working with current or new partners.

Both explicitly wished to emphasise that cooperation may be resumed at a later date and that the two organisations’ underlying approach to matters such as safety and customer benefits in the field of automated driving remains highly compatible.

They blame the expense involved in creating a shared technology platform, as well as current business and economic conditions saying “the timing is not right for successful implementation of the cooperation.”