Isuzu Motors Limited and Gatik AI, Inc. have agreed to collaborate to further develop the North American autonomous driving industry.

Isuzu will invest $30 million in Gatik, forging a solid partnership to realize mobility services based on Level 4 autonomous driving.

The agreement between Isuzu and Gatik focuses on developing middle-mile autonomous driving. It will include designing and creating a new chassis (redundant chassis) that ensures safety when equipped with an autonomous driving system. 

In April 2024, as part of its mid-term business plan, "ISUZU Transformation—Growth to 2030 (IX)," Isuzu committed to establishing three new business pillars for the future:

• Autonomous driving solutions

• Connected services

• Carbon-neutral solutions 

In an effort to develop autonomous driving solutions, Isuzu has partnered with Gatik to launch a Level 4 autonomous commercial vehicle business in 2027.

Hiroshi Sato, executive officer of Isuzu, commented, "As part of our efforts to develop autonomous driving solutions, we're delighted to be expanding our relationship with Gatik to be operation-ready in 2027."

Gatik provides autonomous middle-mile logistics services in North America, using Class 3-7 autonomous driving trucks to deliver goods. These trucks are currently commercially deployed in Texas, Arkansas, and Ontario, Canada.

The company focuses on middle-mile B2B logistics for large companies. In 2021, it completed fully driverless commercial middle-mile deliveries. This advanced technology will also allow Isuzu to actively address pressing industry issues, such as the worsening driver shortage and rapidly increasing delivery needs in North America. 

Through this partnership, Isuzu will enter the middle-mile autonomous driving business in the LCF segment, where the company has already established a market leadership position in the United States and Canada. 

The two companies will jointly design and develop a new chassis with safety performance that is compatible with the installation of an autonomous driving system. They aim to start mass production in 2027.

Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder of Gatik, said, "In 2021, Gatik launched the world's first fully driverless commercial transportation service with a Fortune 500 retailer, and we are thrilled to be once again achieving an industry-first milestone by working with our partner Isuzu towards mass production of SAE Level 4 autonomous trucks. This partnership, coupled with Isuzu's investment in Gatik, signals the company's confidence in our technology and our world-class team, and we're excited to bring autonomous transportation to the market at a significant scale in the coming years."