Magna International, a leading mobility technology company, and one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, has announced that it has successfully developed and is piloting a novel “last mile” delivery solution for urban environments.
It must be noted that Magna recently led a Series B funding round for Indian micro-mobility start-up Yulu through an investment of $77 million. In addition, this funding will help scale the battery swapping infrastructure required to help accelerate the electrification of India’s two-wheeler fleet.
The company has said it is leveraging its expertise in automotive electrification and autonomy to develop new mobility business opportunities.
The solution, which was revealed at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, is a “full-stack” solution, claimed the company, built from the ground up, leveraging hardware and software from Magna’s automotive products. The solution will enable retailers and other stakeholders to offer end-to-end last mile delivery across a range of potential business models, the company claimed.
The last mile delivery solution is a low-speed autonomous driving system that uses cameras, radar, LIDAR and other hardware. The robot can travel at speeds of up to 20 mph or 32 kmph on public streets, the company stated.
Magna said it first launched the robot on a pilot basis with a pizza restaurant in the Detroit area in March 2022, helping deliver hundreds of pizzas to residential and commercial locations near the restaurant. Magna is using data and consumer feedback to refine the service.
“Expanding into the growing world of new mobility is a key part of our ‘Go Forward’ strategy that takes Magna beyond its existing technical strength in automotive and vehicle systems, and into entirely new markets and business models,” said Matteo Del Sorbo, Executive Vice President, Magna International and Global Lead for Magna New Mobility.
In the next phase of this pilot programme, Magna will apply its learnings to further refine the solution for a broader range of applications and use cases, scale, and unlocking innovative new business models, Sorbo said.
Meanwhile, in addition to its investment in Yulu, Magna has also collaborated with Cartken, an autonomous robotics company that has developed autonomous sidewalk delivery and materials handling robots, for a robot-as-a-service business model with contract manufacturing.
Sorbo said, “Our expertise lies in the ability to design, engineer and scale at higher volumes. Additionally, we want to explore opportunities to generate additional revenue streams. These moves allow us to enter a space where we could offer mobility as a service, not just a point-of-sale product.”
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