Aurora Innovation, Driverless Car Start-Up, Announces Transactions with Hyundai and VW
Both VW and Hyundai have announced deals with Aurora Innovation, a driverless car start-up from a former Tesla Autopilot program director. Although there were few details released about the nature of the deals, both VW and Hyundai have expressed a desire to roll out their autonomous vehicles. Hyundai, for example, has said that it is aiming for a roll-out of autonomous vehicles by the start of 2020. Similarly, VW’s Chief Digital Officer Johann Jungwirth stated in a release: “Working with Aurora—the original experts and world leaders in self-driving system—will give us a giant leap forward in our mission to become the world’s leading provider of sustainable mobility through self-driving vehicles.” In line with that mission, VW has been working with Aurora over the past six months to integrate the Aurora self-driving system into their vehicles, and Hyundai presumably will be doing the same. The goal, according to Jungwirth, is to provide mobility for all “at the push of a button.”
