Formed a year ago, the $4-billion venture is developing a fully
automated system that it hopes to begin selling in 2022 to
robotaxi companies and fleet operators, Chief Executive Karl
Iagnemma said in an interview.
“In a post-COVID world, driverless technology is more relevant
and important than ever,” he said. “More Americans are
interested in ride hailing now than before the pandemic.”
Boston-based Motional, which expects to have more than 1,000
employees by year-end, has locations in Pittsburgh, Las Vegas,
Santa Monica, Singapore and now Seoul.
Its chief competitors include Waymo, the Alphabet Inc <GOOGL.O>
affiliate; Cruise, the San Francisco startup that’s
majority-owned by General Motors Co <GM.N>, and Pittsburgh-based
Argo AI, which is jointly controlled by Ford Motor Co <F.N> and
Volkswagen AG <VOWG_p.DE>.
Waymo’s self-driving technology was developed in-house at
Google, and the company has attracted funding from Canadian auto
supplier Magna International <MG.TO> and dealer AutoNation <AN.N>.
It is testing its system in robotaxis and commercial vehicles,
with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles <FCHA.MI> and United Parcel
Service <UPS.N>, among others.
Cruise, whose shareholders include Honda Motor Co <7267.T> and
SoftBank Group <9984.T>, has been testing both ride and delivery
services, and eventually will deploy an electric shuttle jointly
developed by GM and Honda.
Argo has been testing its system in Ford vehicles at several
U.S. locations, with plans to expand to Europe with VW.
Iagnemma said those three self-driving ventures — and Motional —
may have the best changes of survival.
“Unless you check all three boxes” — software, capital and a
strategic partnership with a vehicle manufacturer — “your
chances of succeeding at scale are slim,” he said. “If you don’t
have resources to get to scale, ultimately you’ll end up with a
novelty.”
(Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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