Starting from the end of 2018, FCA will supply Waymo, a satellite company of Alphabet led by the co-inventor of Google Street View, with thousands of Chrysler Pacifica-branded hybrid minivans, thus contributing to the launch of Google's first self-driving taxi service.
This was announced by the two companies in a joint note, launching the challenge to Uber and General Motors, which are already working on similar projects. This is the third supply agreement, in chronological order, between Waymo and FCA: in 2016 the Google company received 100 hybrid Chrysler Pacifica, another 500 in 2017. The challenge to Uber started from afar with a ride sharing service in San Francisco.
The hybrid version of these vehicles is sold at a price of around 40 dollars, so considering that we are talking about "thousands" of cars, the deal could be worth several tens of millions of dollars. The agreement does not provide for an exclusive, but the two companies seem to have found a good balance and are satisfied with their collaboration.
“Our partnership with Waymo continues to grow and strengthen. It is the latest sign of our commitment to this technology,” commented FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne.
The new cars will strengthen Waymo's fleet, supporting the expansion of the project in other American cities. To date, the company has already tested the technology in 25 American cities, including Atlanta, San Francisco, Detroit and Phoenix, the latter identified as the first city in which the service will be officially operational.
Waymo CEO John Krafcik, he explained that “with the world's first fleet of fully autonomous vehicles on the road, we went from research to development, from operation to the concrete deployment” of those cars. For Krafcik, "Chrysler Pacifica minivans offer a versatile interior and a comfortable driving experience and these additional vehicles will help us grow."
