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Just days after the breakup of the merger talks with French automaker Renault, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has reached an agreement to obtain the autonomous driving technology of a young California company, Aurora Innovation.
Founded in 2017 by former Google, Tesla and Uber executives, Aurora develops hardware and software that allows cars to drive themselves. Test vehicles are installed on the streets of San Francisco, Palo Alto, California and Pittsburgh. In a statement, Fiat Chrysler announced plans to integrate the "Aurora Driver" system into commercial vehicles such as delivery vans. Neither company proposed a deadline for the introduction of such vehicles.
"Aurora brings a unique skill set combined with advanced, targeted technology that complements and enhances our approach to autonomous driving," said Mike Manley, General Manager of Fiat Chrysler, in a statement.
The deal, whose financial terms have not been unveiled, underscores the significant weight that automakers give to autonomous cars for their future. It also places Fiat Chrysler in the position to participate in the autonomous vehicle race, alongside General Motors, Ford, Waymo, Uber and others. In the past, Fiat Chrysler had invested little in stand-alone technology, aside from supplying Waymo's minivans in its vast fleet of autonomous taxis.
A Fiat Chrysler and Renault merger would have had an annual production of 8.7 million vehicles a year, enough to overtake MG. third largest car maker after Volkswagen and Toyota. But the talks ended in failure last week after the French government, Renault's majority shareholder, demanded guarantees that the merged company will not cut jobs or shut down factories in France. Renault's two-decade partnership with Renault and Nissan also complicated the merger plans.
The three Detroit automakers have partnered with start-ups in their quest for standalone technology. G.M. acquired Cruise Automation in 2016, while Ford invests at least $ 1 billion in its partner, Argo A.I. In addition, Cruise has attracted significant outside investors, including Honda and the Japanese technology giant SoftBank. Ford and Volkswagen are currently negotiating a plan to consolidate their autonomous efforts with Argo.
Fiat Chrysler is lining up on Aurora at a time when industry leaders recognize that it will probably take longer than expected to put autonomous vehicles on the road. The enthusiasm has cooled after an Uber test vehicle hit and killed a pedestrian last year.
"Everyone put the brakes on," said Mike Ramsey, an analyst at Gartner. "They give up the aggressive plans they were talking about."
Waymo once expected to operate a driverless taxi service in Chandler, Arizona and other cities this year. In the past, Ford had stated that its goal was to produce driverless cars, steering wheels and pedals by 2021.
In Aurora, Fiat Chrysler is joining a company that started late on the ground. At the time of Aurora's creation, Waymo and G.M.'s Cruise had been working on their technology for at least four years. Aurora, however, was created by three scientists with considerable experience in the field of autonomous vehicles: Chris Urmson, who previously ran the self-driving car team at Google before becoming Waymo; Sterling Anderson, former chief designer of the Tesla Driver Assistance System; and Drew Bagnell, who had worked at Uber on autonomous driving technology.
In February, Aurora raised $ 350 million from investors, including online giant Amazon. He has already agreed to supply his technology to Volkswagen and Hyundai. With Fiat Chrysler, Aurora intends to "develop a significant business model to deliver the benefits of autonomous commercial vehicles," said Mr. Anderson in a statement.
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