LOS ANGELES — Isuzu is investing $30 million into self-driving truck company Gatik to manufacture road-ready Level 4 autonomous trucks by 2027.
Level 4 is considered high automation where the vehicle operates completely autonomously under certain conditions. The human being no longer has to be ready to intervene.
“The agreement between Isuzu and Gatik is focused on the development of middle mile autonomous driving and will include the design and development of a new chassis (redundant chassis) that ensures safety when equipped with an autonomous driving system,” the news release states.
In April 2024, as part of its mid-term business plan, Isuzu committed to establishing three new business pillars for the future: autonomous driving solutions; connected services; and carbon neutral solutions.
Gatik is the only company that provides autonomous middle mile logistics services in North America using Class 3-7 autonomous trucks to deliver goods.
The company is particularly focused on middle mile logistics for large companies. In 2021, Gatik successfully completed fully driverless commercial middle mile deliveries.
Gatik’s Class 3-7 autonomous driving trucks are currently commercially deployed in Texas, Arkansas and Ontario, Canada.
“In 2021, Gatik launched the world’s first fully driverless commercial transportation service with a Fortune 500 retailer, and we are thrilled to be once again achieving an industry-first milestone by working with our partner Isuzu towards mass production of SAE Level 4 autonomous trucks,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and co-Founder of Gatik remarked. “This partnership, coupled with Isuzu’s investment in Gatik, signals the company’s confidence in our technology and our world-class team, and we’re excited to bring autonomous transportation to the market at significant scale in the coming years.”
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
