Volkswagen AG announced on Thursday a strategic collaboration with Aurora Innovation, a driverless technology company led by Google’s former self-driving tech lead Chris Urmson, with the aim to create mobility-as-a-service taxi fleets. According to the statement, the partnership will aid the development of software and hardware for driverless vehicles, as well as mobility services for urban and rural areas. The German automaker said its Stanford University specialists have already been working with the Silicon Valley startup to integrate Aurora’s self-driving system including sensors, hardware and software, in Volkswagen’s vehicle platforms.
“In the future, we anticipate that people will be able to use our mobility app or digital virtual assistant to hail a self-driving electric vehicle to drive them conveniently door-to-door… Working with Aurora, a leading self-driving system company, will give us a giant leap forward in our mission to become the world’s leading provider of sustainable mobility, with self-driving vehicles,” said Volkswagen Group Chief Digital Officer Johann Jungwirth.
