Systems and methods for distributed cooperative localization in a connected vehicular platform are disclosed herein. At a first sensor-rich vehicle, one embodiment receives, from a second sensor-rich vehicle via direct vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, an estimated location of the first sensor-rich vehicle and an associated confidence level; estimates a location of the second sensor-rich vehicle based on first sensor data and assigns a confidence level to the estimated location; transmits to the second sensor-rich vehicle via direct V2V communication, the estimated location of the second sensor-rich vehicle and the assigned confidence level; accepts, based on communication between the first and second sensor-rich vehicles and predetermined acceptance criteria, an assignment to perform localization for a legacy vehicle; estimates a location of the legacy vehicle based on second sensor data; and transmits, to the legacy vehicle, the estimated location of the legacy vehicle.