Navya moves into Aus

A French autonomous vehicle company is planning to establish a manufacturing facility in Adelaide, South Australia. Navya announced today that it would expand its operations in North America and Europe to include the Asia-Pacific and that Adelaide was an obvious choice given the South Australian Government’s backing of autonomous vehicle technology and trials. Navya CEO Christophe Sapet said the Asia-Pacific expansion was a natural progression and he was happy to find a partner in South Australia. “We are delighted to have been able to lay the groundwork of a partnership agreement with the Government of South Australia,” he said. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said South Australia was already leading Australia in driverless vehicle technology and this was the next logical step. “Establishing a driverless car vehicle operation in South Australia is the perfect bridge connecting our past in traditional vehicle manufacturing and our future in advanced manufacturing in a clean, carbon neutral environment,” he said from the negotiations in France. South Australia has established a $10 million fund to drive local development of autonomous vehicle technology, and was the first state in Australia to legalise on-road trials of autonomous vehicles. In March the South Australian Government announced AU$5.6m in funding for driverless shuttle and pod trials to take place in Adelaide.