Commercial vehicles from Fiat Chrysler such as delivery vans will come installed with Aurora Driver system
Fiat Chrysler, the UK-based multinational automobile company, has reportedly struck a deal with Arora Innovation, a startup based in California, to source self-driving technology. The agreement has been announced soon after Fiat Chrysler broke off talks with Renault for a possible collaboration.
According to sources, Aurora is working on the development of both hardware and software that enables a car to drive itself. It is already running test vehicles in Palo Alto, California, Pittsburg, and San Francisco. Fiat Chrysler stated that it intends to install the system called the “Aurora Driver” in delivery vans, without stating the specified time frame within which these vehicles would be running on the road.
Mike Manly, chief executive of Fiat Chrysler commented on the unique skill set coupled with purposeful and advanced technology brought by Aurora. It complements and improves on the automaker’s approach to self-driving, Manley adds.
Seemingly, the agreement places Fiat Chrysler in a position where it is in par with Ford, Waymo, General Motors and Uber to introduce autonomous vehicles. It also signifies the importance self-driving cars hold for automakers to achieve future growth.
The merger is set to take place amidst believes that it may take longer for autonomous vehicles to run on the roads, sources mentioned. Supposedly, enthusiasm in self-driving cars depleted to some extent due to an accident where a pedestrian was killed by an Uber test vehicle the previous year. It also let to some companies taking a step back from the aggressive plans they conjured, sources added.
For the record, Aurora had secured $350 million by investors, including Amazon in February this year. It is already in agreement with Hyundai and Volkswagen to supply its technologies. Aurora aims to build a purposeful business model that would deliver the advantages of self-driving commercial vehicles.
Source Credits - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/10/business/fiat-chrysler-self-driving-cars.html