Volvo and Uber have announced they will join forces to “develop next-generation autonomous driving cars.”
VOLVO AND UBER are pitching in US300M to their project to co-develop autonomous driving cars. It’s a clever agreement as Volvo will end up with an end buyer of the vehicles, Uber.
“The two companies have signed an agreement to establish a joint project that will develop new base vehicles that will be able to incorporate the latest developments in AD (autonomous driving) technologies, up to and including fully autonomous driverless cars. The base vehicles will be manufactured by Volvo Cars and then purchased from Volvo by Uber,” Volvo said in a statement.
The new base vehicle will be developed on Volvo Cars’ fully modular Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) which underpins the Volvo XC90, S90 and V90. According to Volvo, SPA, was designed and engineered from the start to work with autonomous drive technologies as well as “next-generation electrification and connectivity devlopments”.
Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars, said: “Volvo is one of the most progressive and contemporary car makers in the world. It is a world leader in the development of active safety and autonomous drive technology, and possesses an unrivalled safety credibility. We are very proud to be the partner of choice for Uber, one of the world’s leading technology companies. This alliance places Volvo at the heart of the current technological revolution in the automotive industry.”
Travis Kalanick, Uber’s chief executive, said: “Over one million people die in car accidents every year. These are tragedies that self-driving technology can help solve, but we can’t do this alone. That’s why our partnership with a great manufacturer like Volvo is so important. Volvo is a leader in vehicle development and best-in-class when it comes to safety. By combining the capabilities of Uber and Volvo we will get to the future faster, together.”
