Volvo Cars and Chinese internet giant Baidu have partnered to develop and mass produce self-driving electric cars in China.
The Swedish carmaker, which is owned by Chinese auto manufacturer Geely, will offer its expertise in advanced technologies in the auto industry, while Baidu provides its autonomous driving platform Apollo, the two companies said in separate statements.
The long-term aim is for the firms to sell vehicles that meet SAE International’s Level 4 (L4) standard for driverless vehicles — meaning vehicles that do not require human intervention in certain conditions — to Chinese customers. Financial information about the deal was not disclosed by either of the companies.
“With Baidu, we take a big step forward in commercialising our autonomous compatible cars, built on Volvo’s industry-leading safety technology,” Hakan Samuelsson, president, and chief executive of Volvo Cars, said in a statement.
“There is a strong development in the autonomous drive in China, where Baidu is a leading player, and the market there offers huge opportunities for us as the supplier of choice for autonomous fleets.”
Baidu said it chose Volvo as a partner due to its “long-standing safety credentials.”
“Since its founding a century ago, Volvo has kept safety as its core mission, pushing safety development forward with significant innovations,” Ya-Qin Zhang, president of Baidu, said in a statement.
“We are very glad that Volvo Cars has established a strategic partnership with Baidu in the development of a fully autonomous car compatible with our autonomous driving platform Apollo. We look forward to working closely with Volvo to provide the world with the safest auto products for the benefit of humankind.”
China is home to a rapidly growing autonomous vehicles sector, with multiple tech firms in the country — including Baidu, Tencent and Didi Chuxing — all vying to own the space.
