The joint venture in autonomous driving by BMW, Mobileye and Intel has gained another partner in German automotive parts and tyre company Continental.

As the development of the technology continues at a pace, manufacturers are finding themselves in needs of an alliance with technology companies to ensure they can keep up with the demand required to meet launch targets. The BMW venture will see Continental play a role in the commercialisation of the platform, which will be sold to other vehicle manufacturers.

Frank Jourdan, member of the Executive Board of Continental AG and head of the Chassis & Safety division, comments:

‘We have already had very good experience in working with the BMW Group through jointly successfully completed development and series projects. Contributing development and integration for the partnership is a recognition of our extensive competence in the field of automated driving. The cooperation with the core partners involved represents the unique opportunity to drive ahead and get this technology of the future to our roads more quickly.’

Speaking on behalf of the partnership, Klaus Fröhlich, member of the board of management of BMW AG for development, adds:

‘Every new Tier One partner brings us a step closer to our goal: We intend to bring safe autonomous driving to series production by 2021 and actively shape this technology. With our non-exclusive approach to this technology of the future we will deliver a safe, fast and cost-efficient solution that is highly attractive also for other manufacturers.’

The group added Delphi to the partnership in May 2017, while Mobileye was bought by Intel earlier in 2017, the technology giant seeing the need to integrate the autonomous specialist into its ranks.

Read more: Autovista Group