Continental to Supply Driverless Tech to Startup NIO in China

Driverless partnerships continue to appear as Continental AG, leading German automotive manufacturing company, has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with global electric startup, NIO. The goal of this partnership is to research, share, and develop autonomous technology, among other developments.

As reported by a press release from Continental, the agreement has the companies collaborating closely on electric vehicles, namely on intelligent transportation services and autonomous driving. The companies are hopeful that this collaboration will be long-term, starting with Continental providing NIO with parts for self-driving vehicles.

The two have been collaborating on other projects since 2014 with Continental supplying NIO with suspension systems and tires, but both have recently been focused on the future of autonomous cars. In a statement made by William Li, Founder and Chairman of NIO, the company expressed their excitement about furthering driverless development.

We are excited to be partnering with Continental on a number of projects, including automated driving, charging, and battery technology, to deliver unique services and experiences to our users.

— William Li, Founder and Chairman of NIO

Continental will more specifically be delivering technology for wireless charging, automated driving, and digital cockpit technologies to the Chinese startup. They will also be partnering in brand promotion, product marketing, technology promotion, quality training, customer service, and talent training. This news comes off of another driverless partnership deal that Continental struck just last week with China's biggest search engine, Baidu, to create technology for driverless vehicles. NIO is no stranger to the driverless world either, as they recently unveiled the world's fastest self-driving car at SXSW.

While the action plan for the companies to start implementing their driverless and electric findings into the mainstream, this partnership has the technical knowledge and resources for another powerful push for autonomous driving in the global mainstream.