TuSimple and Navistar finish deal to co-develop autonomous vans

Autonomous trucking expertise firm TuSimple and truck producer Navistar have scrapped their deal to co-develop self-driving vans, the businesses mentioned Monday. Neither firm offered a cause for ending the partnership.

Two years in the past, TuSimple and Navistar had agreed to collectively develop and produce purpose-built autonomous semi vans by 2024; this might be a transfer away from retrofitting present vans with autonomous sensors and expertise. Navistar purchased an undisclosed stake in TuSimple on the time.

TuSimple has acquired near 7,000 reservations for its Navistar vans with prospects like DHL Supply Chain, Schneider and U.S. Xpress. It’s not clear if any of these orders shall be fulfilled now. Neither firm responded to Thealike for remark, however an announcement from the businesses states, “The decision to end the development agreement does not preclude the companies from working together in the future.”

TuSimple acknowledged in October that it plans to realize commercialization in 2023.

The transfer to finish the partnership comes lower than a month after Cheng Lu returned to his position as CEO of TuSimple after beforehand being ousted. The return of Lu got here days after the corporate fired his predecessor following an inner probe that confirmed sure staff having ties and sharing info with Hydron, a China-backed hydrogen-powered trucking firm.