Fiat Chrysler and Google ink deal for Self-Driving cars
United
States: Google and Chrysler has announced the agreement for
making 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans for its much awaited self-driving cars
project.
Concerned workforce of the two companies will
co-locate at a facility in southeast Michigan to accelerate the design, testing
and including installing sensors and software so that the van can drive
themselves.
According to John Krafcik, CEO of Google
self-driving car project, Chrysler has an experienced automobile engineering
team and Pacifica Hybrid minivan is well suited for Google’ self-driving
technology. This deal between the two companies doesn’t preclude either from
cooperating with others.
The collaboration between the company is not
the first experience of Google with hybrid cars. The current test fleet which
consists of approximately 70 cars has vehicles such as Lexus RX 450h SUV and further
addition of 100 minivans will increase the fleet by more than double. These
autonomous minivans will be tested on a private track before being tested in
public.
According to a recent report published by TechSci Research, Global Autonomous Car Technology Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2035 –
ADAS, Semi-Autonomous, Fully-Autonomous”, global autonomous car technology
market is expected to witness a CAGR of over 10% through 2035. The market is
currently dominated by ADAS segment, which is expected to maintain its
dominance over the next twenty years as well. The dominance of this segment can
be attributed to anticipated increase in government regulations pertaining to
integration of ADAS technologies in passenger cars. Further, semi-autonomous
car technology is expected to witness robust growth over the next ten years,
owing to anticipated decline in its average selling price coupled with rising
volume sales. Region-wise, North America has emerged as the largest contributor
in the market for autonomous car technology, followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific
(APAC) and Middle East North Africa (MENA).
As
per TechSci Research, this collaboration is anticipated to enhance the
competition for self-driving cars in the industry. The partnership of Google with Fiat Chrysler will
encourage other leading automobile companies to invest in this concept in the
upcoming years.