The BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye have signed a memorandum of understanding with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) for the joint development of an autonomous driving platform. With the signing of the memorandum of understanding, FCA has become the first automaker to jointly develop an autonomous driving platform.

The companies participating in the development plan to leverage each company's strengths, capabilities and resources to enhance platform technology, increase development efficiency and shorten product time-to-market. One of the key drivers enabling this is the establishment of a collaborative working environment for engineers located in Germany and other countries. Under this agreement, FCA will provide engineering and other technical expertise and knowledge, and will share its substantial sales volume in the North American automotive market, geographic positioning and know-how gained through long-standing experience already possessed by the company.

FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne stated, "To advance autonomous driving technology, forming partnerships between automakers, technology suppliers and partners is essential." He added, "Through this collaboration, FCA will be able to reap the synergies and economic benefits that can be gained when companies with a shared vision and goals work together."

In July 2016, the BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye announced they would collaborate to develop and produce technology for highly autonomous (Level 3) and fully autonomous (Level 4 and Level 5) vehicles by 2021. Since the announcement, the BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye have been designing and developing a scalable architecture that automakers can use while maintaining their unique brand identity.

By the end of 2017, 40 autonomous vehicles produced through this collaboration are expected to operate on actual roads. In addition, it is expected that data and multiple learning points obtained from 100 Level 4 test autonomous vehicles of Mobileye, now part of Intel, can be utilized to demonstrate the scale benefits of the collaboration.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich stated, "The future of transportation depends on leaders in the automotive and technology industries jointly developing a scalable architecture that global automakers can adopt and customize," adding "We are very pleased that with FCA's participation, we can take a step closer to providing the world's safest autonomous vehicles."

The BMW Group, Intel, Mobileye and FCA plan to invite additional automakers and technology suppliers, in addition to the recently announced development partners and system integration partners, as part of their efforts to develop industry-wide solutions and support the adoption of the autonomous driving platform.