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Volvo and Uber have inked a deal which will see the Swedish car maker supply the ride-hailing service with "tens of thousands" of cars which come pre-wired for autonomous driving. The deal will include the XC60, and all the 90-series cars, which will be sold to Uber from 2019 to 2021. All of the cars share the same Scaleable Product Architecture (SPA), so it's relatively simple to develop self-driving systems which, if they work on one model, will work on all of them.
The idea is that Uber will take the cars, supplied as normal with Volvo's own in-house Pilot Assist systems (which aren't autonomous, but which do allow the cars to maintain speed and lane-keep on major roads, motorways, and in heavy stop-start traffic) and Uber will add to that its own robotic car software, and sensors.
"The automotive industry is being disrupted by technology, and Volvo Cars chooses to be an active part of that disruption," said Håkan Samuelsson, President and Chief Executive of Volvo Cars. "Our aim is to be the supplier of choice for autonomous driving, ride-sharing service providers globally. Today's agreement with Uber is a primary example of that strategic direction."
"We're thrilled to expand our partnership with Volvo," said Jeff Miller, Head of Auto Alliances, Uber. "This new agreement puts us on a path towards mass-produced self-driving vehicles at scale."
The deal, says Volvo, marks "a new chapter in the convergence of car makers and Silicon Valley-based technology companies."
Incidentally, it's a non-exclusive deal, which means Volvo can start supplying other brands with similar cars, and it's free to keep developing its own self-driving technology. Volvo has said that it wants to have a robotic car all of its own on sale by 2021.