These Germans are ruthlessly efficient.
The automotive giants Volkswagen are certainly moving fast these days, ensuring that they’re not caught with their guard down after having been slowed for some time due to Dieselgate. Just this week they’ve inked a deal with Intel-subsidiary Mobileye to provide a Level 4 autonomous-capable system that the two companies can then jointly develop into a self-driving mobility service. That service will then be handled by a third member of the tie-up called Champion Motors, that will handle fleet operations and maintain a nerve-centre for the business.
The fully-autonomous service, called New Mobility, will begin as a service in Israel “early next year.”
In addition to this, Volkswagen have signed a deal with Ford to develop a range of commercial vehicles as well as look into other synergy opportunities, with each company aiming to leverage the other for experience and expertise in the North American and European markets respectively.
However, while the initial agreement was to explore parallels and increase efficiency in the development & production of commercial vehicles, Bloomberg reports that VW & Ford are looking into other areas where they can benefit each other. This includes the development of autonomous driving technology, passenger vehicle development, and other areas it seems.
“We’re having a very broad set of discussions about how we can help each other around the world. In the world we’re in, where the future is so ill-defined because it’s yet to be created, companies are going to have to collaborate more together. We have a history with VW. We get along with them. And if you look at the strengths and weaknesses of each of us, we match up really, really well. That’s very important in these types of collaborations because getting along well is a good part of the formula for success.” — Bob Shanks, Chief Financial Officer, Ford Motor Company
This move to work closely with Volkswagen comes at a time when Ford is setting out on a US$11-billion global restructuring exercise that’ll take between 3-5 years to complete. Leveraging on their relationship with VW could result in faster response times to changing market demands, lower production costs, and significantly-expedited technology development. Interesting times.
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