French electric vehicle developer Navya is partnering transport engineering group Lohr. The two companies plan to set up a joint roadmap for automating currently available rolling bases and producing them in series. Self-driving vehicles produced by the partnership diversify both companies’ product portfolios, particularly in their target regions of Europe, the Middle East and North America.

Navya will contribute its expertise in autonomous mobility systems and will be responsible for integrating them in existing rolling bases, while Lohr will bring engineering skills to the alliance, together with its experience in the industrialisation of vehicles on a large scale, and its footprint on three continents.

The alliance will begin with the integration of Navya’s AD Pack and the Navya Drive self-driving software in several Lohr Cristal electric shuttles. This will enable a series of tests to be carried out and a number of test drives to take place in real life conditions with a view to the industrialisation and marketing of the new line.

This first joint self-driving model will be known as Cristalya. It will be electric and have a capacity of up to 18 passengers. It will offer operators a shared mobility solution, adaptable to a variety of use cases, that is both autonomous and compliant with public transport standards.

“We are convinced of the pivotal role autonomous mobility will play in the years to come and of the necessity to participate in a dynamic ecosystem which marries skills and complementarity. Navya and Lohr share a vision of the challenges ahead and will draw up a roadmap on solid foundations for our march towards large scale industrialisation, while our alliance will strengthen our strategy for growth in the autonomous mobility market.” said François Lhomme, CEO of the Lohr Group.

“The alliance between Lohr and Navya will enable us to create the optimal conditions to strengthen our leadership in terms of innovation and industrialisation in the field of autonomous solutions for the transportation of people and goods. It will also allow us to widen our product and service portfolio to better respond to the needs of our customers. Pooling our skills and processes with Lohr represents a major new step in our strategic development towards the large scale automatisation of existing rolling bases.” said Sophie Desormière, CEO of Navya.