Hyundai, Volkswagen ink deals with all-star autonomous firm

DETROIT — Hyundai and Volkswagen say they’re partnering with a U.S. autonomous vehicle tech firm led by former executives from Google, Tesla and Uber.

The companies announced partnerships with Aurora Innovation, started last year by exGoogle autonomous car chief Chris Urmson and others.

VW said its collaboration will help bring self-driving cars quickly to roads worldwide, while autonomous Hyundais are expected to be in the market by 2021.

The partnerships are the latest in a string of tie-ups between traditional auto companies and tech firms as they race to be first with self-driving vehicles.

Aurora is based in Pittsburgh and Palo Alto, California. It was started last year by Urmson, former Tesla executive Sterling Anderson, and ex-Uber autonomous vehicle leader Drew Bagnell. Terms of each partnership were not released.

Urmson left Alphabet Inc.’s Google in 2016 after more than seven years of work on its autonomous vehicles. At Tesla Inc., Anderson led development of the company’s semiautonomous Autopilot system after its initial release, and he led development of the Model X SUV, according to Aurora’s website. Bagnell was a founding member of Uber Technologies Inc.’s Advanced Technology Center that’s working on autonomous cars in Pittsburgh.

Germany-based Volkswagen AG, which produces about 10 million vehicles annually, hopes the tie-up will bring autonomous vehicle technology to all of its brands. The company said it has been working with Aurora for the past six months, integrating its sensors, hardware and software into VW vehicles.

Hyundai Motor Co. said the partnership with Aurora will bring autonomous vehicles to market that can operate without human input in most conditions.

The partnership has yet to say how its first batch of self-driving vehicles will be used, but analysts expect they will likely be for commercial use, such as selfdriving taxis or ride-hailing services, rather than for sales to individual consumers. General Motors said in November that its self-driving vehicles will carry passengers and deliver goods in big cities by 2019.