ADDING MULTIMEDIA Isuzu Invests US$30 Million in Gatik to Develop Autonomous Driving Logistics Business
May 14 2024 - 12:21PM
Business Wire
– Building a partnership towards
commercialization of Level 4 autonomous driving in 2027 –
Isuzu Motors Limited (headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa,
Japan; President and COO: Shinsuke Minami; hereinafter “Isuzu”) and
Gatik AI, Inc. (headquartered in California, United States; CEO:
Gautam Narang; hereinafter “Gatik”) have agreed to further enhance
the development of the North American autonomous driving business.
Isuzu will invest US$30 million in Gatik, forging a strong
partnership between the two companies in the pursuit of realizing
mobility services based on Level 4 autonomous driving.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240514977000/en/
Current Autonomous Vehicle developed by
Gatik based on Isuzu F-Series (Photo: Business Wire)
The agreement between Isuzu and Gatik is focused on the
development of middle mile autonomous driving and will include the
design and development of a new chassis (redundant chassis) that
ensures safety when equipped with an autonomous driving system. In
April 2024, as part of its mid-term business plan, “ISUZU
Transformation - Growth to 2030 (IX)”, Isuzu committed to the
establishment of three new business pillars for the future: (1)
autonomous driving solutions, (2) connected services, and (3)
carbon neutral solutions. In an effort to develop autonomous
driving solutions, Isuzu has partnered with Gatik with the aim of
launching a level 4 autonomous commercial vehicle business in
2027.
Gatik is the only company that provides autonomous middle mile1
logistics services in North America, using Class 3-72 autonomous
driving trucks to deliver goods safely and efficiently. The company
is particularly focused on middle mile B2B3 logistics for large
companies, and in 2021 it also successfully completed fully
driverless commercial middle mile deliveries. Gatik's Class 3-7
autonomous driving trucks are currently commercially deployed in
Texas, Arkansas (United States), and Ontario (Canada).
Through this partnership, Isuzu will enter the middle mile
autonomous driving business in the LCF4 segment, where the company
has already established a market leadership position in the United
States and Canada. This advanced technology will also allow Isuzu
to actively address pressing issues facing the industry, such as
the worsening driver shortage and rapidly increasing delivery needs
in North America. Moreover, the two companies will jointly design
and develop a new chassis with safety performance that is
compatible with the installation of an autonomous driving system
with the aim of starting mass production in 2027.
Gautam Narang, CEO and co-Founder of Gatik remarked “In 2021,
Gatik launched the world’s first fully driverless commercial
transportation service with a Fortune 500 retailer, and we are
thrilled to be once again achieving an industry-first milestone by
working with our partner Isuzu towards mass production of SAE Level
4 autonomous trucks. This partnership, coupled with Isuzu’s
investment in Gatik, signals the company’s confidence in our
technology and our world-class team, and we’re excited to bring
autonomous transportation to the market at significant scale in the
coming years.”
Hiroshi Sato, executive officer of Isuzu commented “As part of
our April 2024 mid-term business plan announcement, we are
committed to establishing three pillars of new business for the
future: autonomous driving solutions, connected services, and
carbon neutral solutions. As part of our efforts to develop
autonomous driving solutions, we’re delighted to be expanding our
relationship with Gatik to be operation ready in 2027.”
Through this collaboration, Isuzu and Gatik are committed to
leading innovation in the area of middle mile autonomous driving in
North America and providing new value in transportation for the
betterment of society.
< Outline of Isuzu>
Company name:
Isuzu Motors Limited
Establishment:
April 1937
Representative:
Shinsuke Minami, President and
Representative Director, COO
Number of employees:
45,034(as of the end of March 2024)
Business description:
Manufacture and sale of automobiles,
transportation machinery and equipment, engines and other products,
their parts, and related materials and supplies.
Website:
https://www.isuzu.co.jp/
<Outline of Gatik>
Company name:
Gatik AI, Inc.
Establishment:
March 2017
Representative:
Gautam Narang, CEO
Business description:
Development of autonomous driving systems,
peripheral functions and tools, and providing autonomous driving
logistics services.
Website:
https://gatik.ai/
For media: Louise Bristow louise.bristow@gatik.ai
gatik@launchsquad.com
1 middle mile: medium-distance and
intermediate logistics that connect individual distribution centers
and stores.
2 Trucks in the United States are
classified by gross vehicle weight (GVW), and classes 3 to 7
correspond to light to medium-duty trucks in Japan.
3 B2B: Business to Business
4 LCF: Low Cab Forward Truck
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240514977000/en/
Louise Bristow, VP Marketing and Communications
Louise.Bristow@gatik.ai
LaunchSquad gatik@launchsquad.com