Uber to buy 24,000 autonomous Volvo vehicles

Volvo has signed an agreement that will see it selling tens of thousands of autonomous driving compatible base vehicles to US ride hailing giant Uber between 2019 and 2021.

Volvo has said that it will provide Uber with 24,000 of its XC90 SUVs, base vehicles that are developed on Volvo’s in-house Scalable Product Architecture – one of the most advanced in the world.

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“The automotive industry is being disrupted by technology and Volvo Cars chooses to be an active part of that disruption,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive. “Our aim is to be the supplier of choice for AD ride-sharing service providers globally. Today’s agreement with Uber is a primary example of that strategic direction.”

The agreement extends the pre-existing partnership between the two firms that they announced in August 2016.

“We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with Volvo,” said Jeff Miller, Head of Auto Alliances, Uber. “This new agreement puts us on a path towards mass produced self-driving vehicles at scale.”

In addition to supplying Uber with autonomous base vehicles, Volvo will aim to use the same development process to create its own independent autonomous vehicle strategy, with the aim of releasing its first fully autonomous car in 2021.