Volvo Cars and ride-hailing company Uber are joining forces for the development of next generation autonomous driving cars.
As part of the deal, the companies will start a project that will develop new base vehicles, which can be incorporated with latest developments in autonomous driving.
The companies will initially contribute a combined $300M to the project.
These new cars will be manufactured by Volvo and purchased by Uber.
This new project will act as the base platform for both the companies in developing their next individual strategies towards autonomous vehicles.
Taking the vehicle as the base, Uber will add its own autonomous driving system, while Volvo will also do the same thing, once the base vehicle is developed.
The base vehicle would be developed on Volvo’s fully modular scalable product architecture (SPA). The car manufacturer claims that this is one of the most advanced car architectures in the world and it is presently being used in the development of Volvo’s XC90 SUV, S90 premium sedan and V90 premium estate.
The SPA is part of Volvo’s global industrial transformation programme backed by $11bn funding. It was initiated in 2010 and includes the development of electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles and vehicle connectivity developments. The project will move ahead in close collaboration between the engineers from both Volvo and Uber.
Volvo Cars president and CEO Håkan Samuelsson said: “Volvo is a world leader in the development of active safety and autonomous drive technology and possesses an unrivaled 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.”
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick 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.”
Recently, Uber has acquired, a start-up company working on autonomous technologies known as Otto. Travis Kalanick said that Otto’s co-founder Anthony Levandowski will now be heading the combined team of self-driving and will directly report to Kalanick.
