<p>MILAN — Carmaker Stellantis and Taiwan’s Foxconn on Tuesday announced plans to develop a jointly operated automotive supplier focusing on technology to make vehicles more connected, including artificial intelligence-based applications and 5-G communications. </p>
<p>Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said the services that will be developed through the tie-up “will mark the next great evolution of our industry,” alongside fully electrified and hybrid powertrains. </p>
<p>The deal brings together Stellantis, the world’s 4th-largest automaker formed this year by the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Peugeot, and Foxconn, a major supplier of iPhones. </p>
<p>The companies said the venture would focus on such services as infotainment, the integration of telecommunications and computer systems, artificial intelligence-based applications, 5G communications, e-commerce channels and smart cockpit integration. </p>
<p>The companies announced a non-binding memorandum of understanding to form a 50-50 joint venture called Mobile Drive, which will be based in the Netherlands and function as an automotive supplier also to other carmakers.</p>
<p>The new venture will combine advanced consumer electronics, Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI) to create new services “that will exceed customer expectations,” the companies said in a release. </p>
<p>“Customers today and, in the future, demand and expect ever-increasing software-driven and creative solutions to connect the drivers and passengers with the vehicle inside and out,’’ Foxconn Chairman Young Liu.</p>
