Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will join an alliance led by BMW to develop an autonomous driving platform, which can be used by multiple automakers across the world.
FCA signed a memorandum of understanding with BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye in developing the platform.
The self-driving vehicle platform will use each of the partner’s strengths, capabilities and resources to improve its technology, development efficiency and to reduce time to market.
FCA is expected to add its engineering and other technical resources and expertise to this cooperation. Its higher sales volume, geographic reach and its presence in the North American market for a long-time can add to its advantages.
Last year, German luxury car-maker BMW Group, chip-maker Intel and computer vision developer Mobileye joined forces and formed an alliance for the development of autonomous driving and to bring highly automated driving (Level 3) and fully automated (Level 4 and 5) into production by 2021.
The partners have been working on the design and development of scalable architecture that can be easily deployed on vehicles from several manufacturers, across the industry.
The cooperation plans to deploy a fleet of 40 autonomous vehicles by the end of this year. It will also benefit from the recent launch of Mobileye’s fleet of 100 test vehicles.
FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said: “In order to advance autonomous driving technology, it is vital to form partnerships among automakers, technology providers and suppliers.
"Joining this cooperation will enable FCA to directly benefit from the synergies and economies of scale that are possible when companies come together with a common vision and objective.”
BMW chairman of the board of management Harald Krüger said: “The two factors that remain key to the success of the cooperation are uncompromising excellence in development, and the scalability of our autonomous driving platform."
“With FCA as our new partner, we reinforce our path to successfully create the most relevant state-of-the-art, cross-OEM Level 3-5 solution on a global scale.”
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said: “The future of transportation relies on auto and tech industry leaders working together to develop a scalable architecture that automakers around the globe can adopt and customize."
