Waymo And Volvo Team To Work On Self-Driving Cars

Waymo and Volvo Car Group announced an expanded partnership that is intended to create a collaboration enabling easy integration of vehicles with the Waymo Driver. The integration will make the vehicles well-suited to ride-hailing, local delivery, tracking, and personal car ownership. Waymo is now the exclusive global L4 partner for the Volvo Car Group.

The deal includes partnerships with Volvo Car Group's strategic affiliates Polestar and Lynk & Co International. The first step in the strategic partnership will be to work together to integrate the Waymo Driver into an all-new mobility-focused electric vehicle platform for ride-hailing services. Waymo Chief Automotive Officer Adam Frost says that this is a key partnership to pave the way for the development of Waymo Driver globally in the years to come.

Volvo Car Group chief technology officer Henrik Green says that for live autonomous vehicles have the potential to improve road safety and revolutionize how people live, work, and travel. He notes that the global partnership opens new business opportunities for Volvo Car Group.

Waymo is also reminding that, in addition to the partnership with the Volvo Car Group, continues to benefit from partnerships with FCA, Jaguar Land Rover, and the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi partnership called "The Alliance." Waymo Driver will be deployed across a variety of vehicle platforms.

Waymo's partnerships with multiple vehicle makers means that its technology won't be limited to one brand alone. The partnership also has vehicles that come in a range of price points, meaning more of a chance of vehicles using Waymo Driver at a variety of price points. Waymo offered no indication of when the first Volvo Car Group vehicles using its technologies might hit the road.