BMW's self-driving tech collaboration adds Magna

Canadian automotive supplier Magna International has struck a deal with BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye to bring a new self-driving platform to the entire automotive market by 2021.

Magna said in a statement Tuesday it will help automakers “industrialize and customize” the AV software -- or “brain” of the system -- designed by the three partners.

Magna will also help with the platform’s sensor suite, which includes such technology as cameras, radar and lidar used on autonomous vehicles.  Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

“Many of the autonomy challenges the industry is facing can’t be handled in isolation,” Magna Chief Technology Officer Swamy Kotagiri said in the statement.

Through collaboration, the four companies plan to provide “a flexible and adoptable autonomous vehicle platform” that can be used by multiple automakers, not just BMW.

Kotagiri said the combined efforts “will contribute to the delivery of a self-driving platform the market can leverage.”

Magna has already been a supplier to the BMW Group on a global scale in addition to being a contract vehicle manufacturer for the luxury automaker for more than 15 years. 

The supplier, based in Aurora, Ont., ranked No. 3 on the Automotive News Top 100 Global Suppliers List for the second consecutive year and is the only Canadian company in the top five.

It generated $36.44 billion in total global automotive parts sales in 2016, up more than $4 billion from 2015.