SAIC Motor Corp Ltd (SAIC Motor) joined with Austrian TTTech Computertechnik AG (TTTech) for a joint venture. The two parties signed a contract in Shanghai on Mar 13, 2018.

The two parties will cooperate to upgrade core technologies for intelligent driving and promote the integrated development of a central decision controller (iECU). The joint venture would develop, manufacture and sell Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and electronic control units for automatic driving and related components. It will also provide domestic and overseas services for market development, technological development and consulting, and after-sale.

SAIC Motor took steps to further strengthen its dominance in intelligent driving technology. The central decision controller for intelligent driving produced by the joint venture is expected to be installed in SAIC Motor’s mass-produced intelligent vehicle – the first of its kind in China. The completely electric high-end vehicle model will provide clients with a new driving experience.

TTTech, founded in 1998, is a world-renowned provider of core intelligent driving technology. It has been providing reliable connected security and control solutions for aerospace, expressway, engineering machinery and automobile enterprises. High-end industrial products, such as Orion, NASA’s space shuttle, and Raider, the fastest helicopter in history, employed TTTech’s technological solutions.

SAIC Motor, the largest automobile group in China, ranked 41st among Fortune 500 companies in 2017 and took seventh place within the global automobile industry. In recent years, the group has strived to be a “comprehensive supplier of outstanding travel services and automotive products” by implementing innovative development strategies featuring “digitalization, intelligent interconnection, sharing and internationalization”.

SAIC Motor has been developing core technology for intelligent driving since 2013 and has made progress in intelligent driving technology for highways and urban areas, controller technology, V2X (vehicle to everything) application and high-definition maps. It has achieved this through cooperation with top global companies such as Mobileye, Infineon, China Mobile, Huawei and Qualcomm.

SAIC Motor has completed the development of two generations of intelligent driving platforms and has started researching intelligent driving technology that can be applied to traffic on highways, in specific urban areas, and in surface and underground parking lots. The cumulative test mileage of vehicles has exceeded 500,000 kilometers. In March, the company was granted China’s first intelligent internet automobile road test license, which will help further the application of its intelligent driving technologies.