Volvo to sell thousands of self-driving cars to Uber

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Hugo Griffiths 2017-11-20 14:45

Uber has agreed to a large-scale purchase of cars from Volvo, to which it will add its own autonomous tech

Volvo has announced it will supply “tens of thousands” of self-driving-capable cars to Uber, the San-Francisco-based ride-hailing company.

The non-exclusive agreement will see Volvo sell thousands of “base vehicles” to Uber between 2019 and 2011, as the latter gears up to offer “mass produced self-driving vehicles at scale.”

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This latest news follows a 2016 agreement between the two companies, which saw Uber adding its own self-driving systems to a Volvo base car. Under the new “framework agreement”, Volvo will supply thousands of vehicles already fitted with “core” autonomous and safety systems, to which Uber will adds its own self-driving tech.

The Volvos in question will be built on the Chinese-owned Swedish carmaker’s Scalable Project Architecture, which underpins models such as the XC90 SUV to the V90 estate. 

But the non-exclusive nature of the agreement means Volvo will continue developing its own autonomous systems, independent of Uber.

Volvo’s chief executive, Håkan Samuelsson, said: “The automotive industry is being disrupted by technology and Volvo Cars chooses to be an active part of that disruption”.

Uber said the company was “thrilled” to be working with Volvo on the large-scale self-driving project.

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