Chinese-owned Volvo Car Group and auto safety group Autoliv said on Tuesday they would form a joint venture to develop autonomous driving software.
The two Sweden-based companies said in separate statements the new company would have an initial work force of about 200 staff taken from both parent companies, a number that would increase to more than 600 over the medium term.
The joint venture, which is to be headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, will develop advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous drive (AD) systems for use in Volvo cars.
The technology developed by the joint venture, which was expected to begin operations early next year, would also be sold by Autoliv to carmakers globally, with revenues shared by both companies.
Volvo and Autoliv said they expected the first ADAS products from the joint venture to be available for sale in 2019 while the AD technology would be ready by 2021.
