Volvo Cars has reached an agreement with Baidu, a leading Chinese internet search provider, to jointly develop electric and fully autonomous drive-compatible cars with the aim of mass producing them for China.

Volvo Cars has reached an agreement with Baidu, a leading Chinese internet search provider, to jointly develop electric and fully autonomous drive-compatible cars with the aim of mass producing them for China, the largest car market in the world.

Volvo Cars is the first foreign carmaker to collaborate this closely with Baidu to jointly develop customised autonomous driving cars.

Volvo Cars and Baidu will pool resources to take the next step and prepare for mass manufacturing of fully electric and autonomous cars, according to the agreement

Based on the collaboration agreement, Baidu will contribute its Apollo autonomous driving platform.  Volvo will provide access to its expertise and advanced technologies of the car industry.

Industry forecasts show that China is likely to become the single largest market for autonomous cars in the world in coming decades. Market research firm IHS Markit predicted earlier this year that around 14.5 million autonomous cars will be sold in China by 2040, on a total global volume of around 33 million.

“With Baidu we take a big step forward in commercialising our autonomous compatible cars, built on Volvo’s industry-leading safety technology,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars.

“There is a strong development in autonomous drive in China, where Baidu is a leading player, and the market there offers huge opportunities for us as the supplier of choice for autonomous fleets.”

“Since its founding a century ago, Volvo has kept safety as its core mission, pushing safety development forward with significant innovations. We are very glad that Volvo Cars has established a strategic partnership with Baidu in the development of a fully autonomous car compatible with our autonomous driving platform Apollo. We look forward to working closely with Volvo to provide the world with the safest auto products for the benefit of humankind,” said Dr Ya-Qin Zhang, president of Baidu.

Volvo Cars aims to become a global and diversified mobility service provider and sees autonomous drive as a key growth area as part of this strategy. By the middle of the next decade it expects to generate one third of all annual sales from autonomous cars.

Volvo has been in operation since 1927. Today, Volvo Cars is one of the most well-known and respected car brands in the world with sales of 571,577 cars in 2017 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) of China since 2010. It formed part of the Swedish Volvo Group until 1999, when the company was bought by Ford Motor Company of the US. In 2010, Volvo Cars was acquired by Geely Holding. – TradeArabia News Service