Africa-Press – Rwanda. PARIS – Global automotive giant Stellantis and Taiwanese electronics firm Foxconn announced a joint venture on Tuesday, which will see the two companies creating a “smart cockpit” for cars that will feature navigation, voice assistance and payment services.
The joint venture, named Mobile Drive, will also make the smart cockpits available to other carmakers. The venture aims to disrupt current design conventions and foster the development of intelligent connected vehicles.
“Its roadmap of software innovations will include artificial intelligence-based applications, navigation, voice assistance, e-commerce store operations, and payment services integration, amongst others,” the companies said in a joint statement.
“Through the exchange of intellectual property by its founding entities and the vertical integration of respective supply chains, Mobile Drive will be able to create industry-leading automotive digital services to achieve a seamless user experience in and outside the vehicle.”
Foxconn, more famous for assembling Apple’s iPhone, is trying to diversify into the automotive arena.
Stellantis plans to invest 30 billion euros in electric vehicles and new software over the next four years.
The US-European carmaker was formed in a merger between France’s Peugeot and the US-Italian company Fiat Chrysler earlier this year, with a stable that includes Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Maserati among its 14 brands.
Agence France-Presse
