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The
carmaker will invest $1 billion in Horizon Robotics and a
further 1.3 billion euros ($1.26 billion) in the joint venture,
with the transaction to be completed in the first half of 2023.
Together the companies will develop technology that can
integrate numerous functions for autonomous driving onto a
single chip that will be available only in China.
The venture will mean Volkswagen has a supplier in each major
region - North America, Europe and China - given its existing
supply relationships with U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm and
Franco-Italian STMicrolectronics.
In contrast to the partnership with Qualcomm, Volkswagen's
software unit Cariad will play an active role in developing the
chip technology with Horizon Robotics, and the know-how will be
shared across the Volkswagen Group, the carmaker's China chief
Ralf Brandstaetter said.
"That's why this cooperation with Horizon Robotics is deeper,"
he added.
Its part of a wider push by Volkswagen to strengthen its
software offering and make its mark on the Chinese electric
vehicle market, where it lags domestic competitors - notably BYD
- and Tesla.
Horizon Robotics, founded in Beijing in 2015, has supplied
customers including BYD, Volkswagen's Audi, Continental, Li Auto
and SAIC, according to its website.
Investors include carmakers like BYD and Great Wall Motors as
well as Intel.
($1 = 1.0283 euros)
(Reporting by Victoria WalderseeEditing by Madeline Chambers,
Miranda Murray and Barbara Lewis)
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