Ford Rival Stellantis Announces New Collaboration For L4 Mobility

At the moment, pretty much every automaker is exploring some sort of autonomous tech, whether that be eyes-off Level 3 or more advanced Level 4 systems that don't require any sort of human intervention. Ford has largely stepped back from higher levels of autonomy and is focusing on L3 at the moment, while one of its rivals - Stellantis - announced that it was scrapping its own Level 3 advanced driver assistance program due to the high costs of development, technological challenges, and weak consumer demand roughly two months ago.

Now, oddly enough, Stellantis has announced that it will collaborate with NVIDIA, Uber Technologies, Inc., and Foxconn to explore the joint development and future deployment of Level 4 autonomous vehicles for robotaxi services across the globe. Those companies will each provide something a little different to the project based on the expertise of each, too. For Stellantis, that means designing, engineering, and manufacturing autonomous vehicles on its K0 Medium Size Van and STLA Small platforms.

Those vehicles will utilize NVIDIA's DRIVE AGX Hyperion 10 autonomous vehicle architecture, which includes the NVIDIA DriveOS operating system and full-stack NVIDIA DRIVE AV software (NDAS) purpose-built for Level 4 autonomy. Foxconn will collaborate with Stellantis on hardware and systems integration, while Uber will add these new Stellantis robotaxis to its existing fleet - starting with the U.S. and then expanding to other countries around the world, with a production start date currently set for 2028.

“Autonomous mobility opens the door to new, more affordable transportation choices for customers," said Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa. "We have built AV-Ready Platforms to meet growing demand, and by partnering with leaders in AI, electronics, and mobility services, we aim to create a scalable solution that delivers smarter, safer, and more efficient mobility for everyone.”