Sept. 6, 2016—Autoliv Inc. and Volvo Cars have signed a letter of intent to form a jointly owned company to develop the next generation of autonomous driving software. The company is expected to start in 2017.
The new company will be headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, and will include an initial workforce of 200 employees taken from each company with plans to expand to over 600 employees.
The announcement marks the first time a leading premium car maker has joined forces with a tier one supplier to develop new advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD) technologies.
The company will develop ADAS and AD systems for use in Volvo Cars and for sale exclusively by Autoliv to all car makers globally, with revenues to be shared by both companies.
“There are no two companies that can claim to have done more for automotive safety worldwide than Autoliv and Volvo,” said Jan Carlson, chairman, CEO and president of Autoliv. “This new company is a recognition of the fact that autonomous driving is the next step to transform road safety.”
“By combining our know-how and resources we will create a world leader in AD software development. This means we can introduce this exciting technology to our customers faster,” said Hakan Samuelsson, president of chief executive officer of Volvo Car Group.
