LISLE, Ill., July 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Navistar
International Corporation (NYSE: NAV), a producer of
International® brand commercial trucks, proprietary
diesel engines, and IC Bus® brand school and commercial
buses, and TuSimple, a global self-driving technology company,
announced today that the two entities have entered into a strategic
partnership to co-develop SAE Level 4 self-driving trucks
targeted for production by 2024. The strategic partnership is the
result of a successful technical relationship between the companies
for more than two years. In addition, Navistar has taken a minority
stake in TuSimple.
"Autonomous technology is entering our industry and will have a
profound impact on our customers' businesses," said Persio Lisboa, President and CEO, Navistar.
"Navistar's strategic partnership with TuSimple positions us to be
a leader in developing solutions for our customers by leveraging
our organizations' collective expertise to integrate our vehicle
design and systems integration capabilities with TuSimple's
innovative autonomous technology. This announcement marks a
significant milestone in our development journey with TuSimple and
we look forward to furthering our relationship in the months to
come."
Navistar brings 113 years of experience in developing commercial
vehicles and bringing them to the market under the International
and IC Bus brands. The program between TuSimple and Navistar will
ensure a fully integrated engineering solution that will be ready
for mass-production using Navistar's vehicle manufacturing
capabilities. Customers will be able to purchase the fully
autonomous trucks through Navistar's traditional sales channels in
the United States, Canada and Mexico.
"TuSimple and Navistar began joint development of pre-production
units in 2018 and now we are kicking-off a full go-to-market
production program," said Cheng Lu, President, TuSimple. "We are
honored to be partnered with Navistar. The investment in TuSimple
and the partnership with Navistar marks an important milestone for
our company. With the combined expertise of Navistar and TuSimple,
we have a clear path to commercialize self-driving Class 8 trucks
at scale."
This partnership propels TuSimple's aims to transform the
$800 billion U.S. trucking industry
by enhancing safety, increasing efficiency and significantly
reducing operating costs. Last December, TuSimple
announced results of a study conducted at the
University of California San Diego that
show the company's autonomous driving technology reduced fuel
consumption in heavy-duty trucks by 10% when compared to
traditional operations.
The company operates a fleet of 40 self-driving trucks in the
U.S., shipping freight autonomously for companies such
as UPS and McLane Company between Arizona and Texas. TuSimple plans to demonstrate
completely driverless operations in 2021.
About Navistar
Navistar International Corporation
(NYSE: NAV) is a holding company whose subsidiaries and affiliates
produce International® brand commercial trucks,
proprietary diesel engines, and IC Bus® brand school and
commercial buses. An affiliate also provides truck and diesel
engine service parts. Another affiliate offers financing services.
Additional information is available at www.Navistar.com
About TuSimple
TuSimple is a self-driving technology
company headquartered in San Diego,
California with facilities in Tucson, Shanghai, and Beijing. TuSimple is developing a
commercial-ready Level 4 (SAE) fully autonomous driving solution
for long-haul heavy-duty trucks. TuSimple is the only self-driving
truck company capable of driving on highways and surface streets
without human intervention. The company was founded in 2015 with a
mission to improve the safety and efficiency of the trucking
industry and today is considered the industry leader in autonomous
trucking technology.
For more information and to access the TuSimple media kit please
visit tusimple.com/media
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SOURCE Navistar International Corporation