It is known that Fiat Chrysler and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) are currently in advanced talks for a partnership aiming to address their self-driving car interests, according to a source familiar with the reunions.
A partnership between both companies will be the first to match a carmaker with Google’s 7-year-technology in self-driving cars. The company however, had previously stated that it was not interested in developing the cars by itself and instead it would prefer to license its technology to carmakers, as reported by the Washington Post.
“We want to partner to bring self-driving to all the vehicles in the world,” said Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google and Alphabet President, at a self-driving car event last year. This affirmation makes sense due to the search-giant does not have the experience to develop cars at an industrial level. Even though they have previously developed prototypes, large-scale car manufacturing is unknown territory for Google. A partnership could bring the development experience from Fiat Chrysler to Google and most important, its factories.
Details related to the talks about the partnership have not been revealed nor officially confirmed by any of the companies. Yet the discussion between both companies has been going on for several months according to an anonymous tip. The unknown source asked not to be named due to the privacy of the subject.
Last year, the California-based company hired John Krafcik to be the CEO of the company’s self-driving car project. Krafcik is an autho industry veteran and former executive at Ford Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. Google has set a goal for 2020 self-driving cars to be in the public’s reach.
Aligned interests for a common purpose
As Google expressed its desire to look for a carmaker company to develop its self-driving cars, Fiat Chrysler’s CEO Sergio Marchionne announced his interest for a partner to share the cost of research and development as well.
Marchionne said that industry players need to build more scale to achieve better return on invested capital, and also commented that he is open to work with a tech giant, including Alphabet or Apple Inc, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Source: Washington Post