Waymo and Renault-Nissan Reportedly Plan to Co-Develop Autonomous Cars

Over the last year, Google’s Waymo has partnered with Jaguar and expanded an earlier agreement with FCA to provide it with Pacifica Hybrid minivans. Now, it sounds like Waymo’s on the verge of forming a massive new partnership with the Renault-Nissan alliance.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Waymo is close to reaching an agreement with Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi to co-develop autonomous cars. Nothing is official just yet, but that should reportedly change soon. Assuming Waymo actually does partner with those three automakers, it would have access to one of the largest auto alliances in the world.

That said, don’t expect this agreement to put self-driving Nissans on dealer lots. At least not any time soon. An unnamed source told Bloomberg that the plan is to focus on developing autonomous taxis.

If Waymo’s autonomous technology ever advances to the point that it does become commercially viable (and that’s a big “if”), this partnership would put the Renault-Nissan alliance in a strong position as a tech leader. It would also give Waymo the ability to hand off vehicle production responsibilities.

That said, if the deal does go through, it probably won’t be exclusive. Bloomberg reports that Waymo met with at least a dozen automakers back in 2016 to discuss manufacturing partnerships.

Source: Bloomberg

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