Delphi Automotive say they plan to acquire Boston-based autonomous vehicle software supplier NuTonomy in a deal that could be valued at USD $450m. The acquisition, expected to close before the end of this year, will nearly double Delphi’s 100-plus automated driving team with NuTonomy’s 100 employee, including 70 engineers and scientists.
NuTonomy will continue to operate in Boston, alongside Delphi’s own team there, as well as in Delphi offices in Singapore; Pittsburgh; and Santa Monica and Silicon Valley in California. Delphi CTO Glen De Vos says the deal will give Delphi access to the commercial truck market: “We think this is the tip of the spear for automated driving,” De Vos said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. “This dramatically accelerates our penetration in this marketplace.”
The acquisition of NuTonomy is the latest for Delphi as they race to build their autonomous driving business. Delphi’s recent buys include:
• Carnegie Melon spinoff Ottomatika,
• Control-Tec, a provider of telematics and analytics software provider, and
• Movimento, an over-the-air software update provider.
The four autonomous driving add-ons will continue to operate as separate entities, but will coördinate on projects, De Vos says. NuTonomy developed nuCore™, a software-based modular system for perception, mapping, localisation, motion planning, decisionmaking, and control of passenger vehicles operating in complex urban environments. nuCore’s powerful planning engine enables human-like manœuvring performance, and the patented approach to decisionmaking allows autonomous vehicles to handle even the most complex traffic scenarios.
