Self-driving trucking technology company TuSimple is teaming up with TRATON Group (ETR: 8TRA) to develop self-driving vehicles in Europe.
The collaboration, announced on Wednesday, will initially operate a hub-to-hub route between the Swedish cities of Södertälje and Jönköping using Scania trucks, brand TRATON, according to a press release.
TRATON, the truck holding company of German automaker Volkswagen AG, also acquired a minority stake in TuSimple.
Similar to the Navistar partnership, the latest collaboration will see TuSimple and TRATON working to develop Level 4 autonomous systems. Level 4 trucks do not require a human driver in most circumstances.
Traton aims to test autonomous truck fleets on roads throughout Sweden, Germany and other countries, according to the statement.
“Our partnership with TRATON GROUP accelerates the introduction of self-driving truck technology into new international markets, and we look forward to our global partnership,” Cheng Lu, president of TuSimple, said in the statement.
This partnership marks TuSimple’s European debut.
In the past six months, a growing number of self-driving car companies have formed alliances with manufacturers, retailers and logistics companies, as the technology matures and the industry seeks to move closer to commercialization.
This summer, TuSimple announced new partnerships with transportation providers US Xpress and Penske Truck Leasing, and the Berkshire Hathaway-owned grocery and food service distributor McLane.
As a leader in the self-driving truck space, TuSimple has repeatedly said it will put a fully self-driving truck on the road in 2021.
In Sweden, TuSimple and TRATON will join Einride, a Swedish startup that has developed telematics trucking technology and operates commercial shipping for several partners.
The company opened a U.S. office this year, and CEO Robert Falk told FreightWaves last spring that Einride would hire its first remote drivers in the third quarter of 2020.
Einride did not immediately respond to FreightWaves’ request to confirm the new appointments.
