On Wednesday, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU) said that it is banding together with German car manufacturer BMW (OTCMKTS:BAMXF) and tech giant Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) in a self-driving car alliance.
Intel, of course, notably acquired Mobileye NV (NYSE:MBLY) earlier this year, which is an Israeli car-camera software provider. BMW, Intel, and Mobileye originally formed the group over a year ago with the goal of producing fully-functioning self-driving vehicles by 2021.
The companies said Fiat Chrysler would bring top engineering skills and other types of expertise to the group, which will help create an autonomous car platform that carmakers across the industry could utilize.
“Joining this cooperation will enable FCA to directly benefit from the synergies and economies of scale that are possible when companies come together with a common vision and objective,” CEO Sergio Marchionne said in a statement issued Wednesday.
According to TechCrunch, the partnership expects to use 100 planned Level 4 autonomous test vehicles that Intel and Mobileye already announced they would be developing and deploying once the acquisition was complete. And, the group said it was on track to put 40 self-driving cars on the road by the end of 2017.
Fiat Chrysler follows Delphi Automotive PLC (NYSE:DLPH) and German automotive manufacturing company Continental AG, two top suppliers who joined with the alliance this past May and June, respectively. The car company is also part of a separate alliance with Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG) self-driving unit Waymo that is developing self-driving vehicles based Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans.
Groups like these are beginning to pop up all across the auto industry. German auto giant Daimler recently teamed up with components supplier Robert Bosch GmbH with plans to bring its own self-driving car standard to cities and metropolitan areas by next decade. And then you have American leaders like Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), who both have notable self-driving car programs of their own.
Other car companies like Audi, which is part of Volkswagen AG (OTCMKTS:VLKAY), Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), and Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) have all partnered with top Intel rival Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) on autonomous technology ventures.
Shares of FCAU are trading up about 1.1% in late-morning trading.
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