German car makers Audi, BMW and Daimler on Tuesday launched an alliance with mobile telecoms network equipment firms Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Nokia and Qualcomm to accelerate development of the infrastructure needed for self-driving cars. The pact is another example of Germany’s premium carmakers collaborating to build technology expertise necessary to take on new rivals like Uber and Google which are also working on autonomous driving technology.
The new alliance, branded the 5G Automotive Association, will “develop, test and promote communications solutions, support standardization and accelerate commercial availability and global market penetration,” the founders said in a statement.