Aug. 22, 2019—Volkswagen has teamed up with its rivals, BMW and Daimler, according to a report by the China Daily. Automakers are also enlisting the help of technology companies like Cruise, Argo and Aurora (which is backed by Amazon), who license their know-how to them.
Arun Kumar, director in the automotive and industrial practice at AlixPartners LLP, a consulting firm, told the newspaper that cost is driving the newly formed alliances.
In fact, automakers have reported investments of about $300 billion to work on autonomous cars. Ford and Volkswagen announced in July they are expanding their global alliance to include electric vehicles and to introduce autonomous vehicle technology in the U.S .and Europe.
VW, meanwhile, will invest $2.6 billion in Ford's autonomous-car partner Argo AI in a deal that values the Pittsburgh startup at more than $7 billion.
