Honda and Google’s parent business, Alphabet, are in official talks to develop self-driving automobiles, the Japanese automaker stated on Thursday, months after the US company signed a deal to utilize its technology in Fiat Chrysler minivans.
The possibility of a deal between Honda and Alphabet’s self-driving unit Waymo, that was spun off from Google previously this month, belongs to efforts by some vehicle producers to address the high expense of developing trustworthy automation software by coordinating with technology firms instead of going it alone.
Honda has however said any collaboration with Waymo did not suggest it was abandoning efforts to develop its own autonomous driving system.
While its driverless task has not amassed as much attention as similar strategies by bigger companies such as Toyota, Honda revealed a prototype driverless car in June and has stated it wishes to see the completely autonomous, appear on motorways in 4 years.
“In addition to these on-going (in-house) efforts, this technical collaboration with Waymo could enable Honda research and development to check out a different technological technique to bring totally self-driving technology to market,” Honda stated.
If a deal is finalized, Honda engineers in Japan and Silicon Valley would deal with their Waymo counterparts to marry their automobiles with Waymo’s software, in the same way as Fiat Chrysler has finished with its Pacifica minivans.
The automobiles would then join road tests of Waymo cars presently being carried out in four United States cities.
Waymo stated it was “looking forward to exploring opportunities to work together with Honda to advance completely self-driving technology and make our roads safer”.
The possible deal with Honda, Japan’s third-biggest automaker, would help support Google’s position at the forefront of self-driving technology. The tech company has been making software and sensors since 2009 and checking its autonomous vehicles on public roads for a number of years.
Robotic Taxi, a Japanese cooperation in between a developer of automated automobile technology and a mobile internet firm, started checking driverless taxis in the town of Fujisawa previously this year.
Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has informed he wishes to see fleets of self-driving vehicles on Tokyo’s roads by the time the place hosts the 2020 Olympics.
