Honda is teaming up with Cruise and General Motors to build and deploy autonomous vehicle technology for mobility purposes.
The automaker will work johintly with the other companies, helping to provide the necessary funding and aid in the development of a “purpose-built autonomous vehicle” for Cruise. The goal will be for the vehicle to serve a “wide variety of use cases,” which is software and systems engineering lingo for a business analysis technique meant to help identify, clarify and organize system requirements.
Honda is planning a large-scale deployment for the vehicle as it aims to offer the car on the global market.
“Honda chose to collaborate with Cruise and General Motors based on their leadership in autonomous and electric vehicle technology and our shared vision of a zero-emissions and zero-collision world,” said Seiji Kuraishi, COO, Executive Vice President and Representative Director at Honda. “We will complement their strengths through our expertise in space efficiency and design to develop the most desirable and effective shared autonomous vehicle.”
The carmaker will invest around $2 billion over 12 years towards the tri-pact’s initiatives. Together, that equates to a $750 million equity investment in Cruise.
