Toyota, Qualcomm Reportedly Form Consortium On Self-driving Tech

(RTTNews) - Toyota Motor (TYT.L, TM) and U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm are among the 27 companies forming a global consortium to bring self-driving technology onto the road, Nikkei Asian Review reported.

The group aims to lead a private-sector push to establish safety standards and other rules for varying degrees of autonomous driving. The World Economic Forum, which formed a working committee in May to discuss the future of self-driving cars, had called for such an initiative.

The report said that the auto industry represents 12 of the participants, including Toyota, Nissan Motor, General Motors, Volkswagen, BMW, Hyundai Motor and Volvo Car. Insurers include Liberty Mutual Group and Japan's Sompo Holdings, with Qualcomm and Sweden's Ericsson among the information technology companies. Uber Technologies, the company behind the ride-hailing app, and U.S. logistics giant UPS are also taking part.

The consortium members will be involved in road tests that begin this month in the U.S. city of Boston, overseen by Renault and nuTonomy -- a startup sprung from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition to sharing data on safety and traffic congestion, they will discuss the impact on rail and other transit systems, as well as the implications for such sectors as casualty insurance. The group will convene every two months and report its findings at the forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, the report said.

However, companies such as U.S. electric car maker Tesla Motors are not part of the consortium. And with Google and Ford Motor teaming up in the self-driving arena, the battle will only intensify for gaining an upper hand in developing the technology and crafting the rules, the report noted.