Several leading truck manufacturers are now actively developing driverless electric vehicles. Volkswagen recently announced that its subsidiary, TRATON GROUP, is investing in the U.S.-based company TuSimple, which develops driverless technology. TRATON has acquired a minority stake in TuSimple as part of the two companies’ collaboration on the development of driverless vehicles. The size of the stake and the purchase price have not been officially disclosed.
”Our global partnership with TuSimple is another step toward becoming the global leader in future technologies that deliver added value to our customers,” says Mattias Gründler, CEO of TRATON GROUP. The first test vehicles are already under development and will be highly automated in accordance with “Level 4.” The driverless technology has been under development and undergoing real-world testing since 2015.
TRATON and TuSimple have previously launched a driverless program in which Scania’s trucks—operated by its subsidiary—commute between Södertälje and Jönköping. TRATON aims to expand testing of its own driverless trucks in collaboration with TuSimple, including in Sweden and Germany—an effort that is being intensified in light of the growing global driver shortage. In Germany alone, the driver shortage is reported to be 60,000 drivers, and the situation is similar in most countries around the world. Since September 2018, Traton Group has been the name of Volkswagen’s divisions for heavy-duty trucks and buses, formerly known as Volkswagen Truck & Bus AG. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, which owns 88.5% of the shares following the initial public offering in the summer of 2019. The group includes MAN, Scania, Volkswagen Truck & Bus LLC, and others.
