Aptiv opens new centre in China for L4 autonomous vehicles

Aptiv, an Ireland-based auto parts company has opened the new Autonomous Mobility Center in China to further its developments in the automated driving solutions and its commitment to commercially deploying the technology. Located in Shanghai, the Center will focus on development and application of the company’s L4 autonomous driving technology.  This centre also extends Aptiv’s autonomous driving operations, joining Boston, Singapore, Pittsburgh and Las Vegas as one of the company’s major autonomous driving engineering hubs. 

Karl Iagnemma, president of Aptiv Autonomous Mobility said, “With high market acceptance to autonomous driving in China, we see a strong demand for autonomous driving technologies in the Chinese market.  We are excited to expand to the Chinese market, bringing our autonomous driving expertise and capabilities to the region. This expansion is significant for China, and globally, as it takes us one step closer to broader adoption of automated mobility.”

To coincide with testing, the company is actively in discussions with potential partners for mapping and commercial deployment of Aptiv’s vehicles in China. This is consistent with the company’s approach in other markets. It allows Aptiv to gain real-world experience with the general public and supports broader technology and IP development, two critical components to grow commercial deployment and develop future mobility solutions.

Aptiv is said to be the first to commercially deploy autonomous vehicles globally. It has been giving rides to consumers in Las Vegas since May 2018, in partnership with ride-hailing app, Lyft, and is conducting Automated Mobility on Demand research, development and testing in Boston, Pittsburgh and Singapore. Aptiv claims that to date, it’s commercial program has provided 40,000 paid autonomous rides, servicing more than 2,100 destinations across the city of Las Vegas and Clark County, while maintaining a nearly perfect average passenger rating of 4.95 out of five stars.

Aptiv began operations in China in 1993 and claims to have a strong engineering and manufacturing presence in the country with advanced safety, connectivity and security, infotainment and user experience systems, as well as electrical architectures for both internal combustion and new energy vehicles.