Volvo's first production-ready trucks built to utilize Aurora's software are coming off of the assembly line.
The Volvo VNL Autonomous was unveiled a few months ago, and now the initial fleet is coming into production at a Volvo plant in Virginia. The truck will be integrated with the Aurora Driver self-driving system.
Aurora (NASDAQ: AUR) has used both Paccar and Volvo vehicles to test with humans behind the wheel. These vehicles had autonomous technology, such as LIDAR sensors, built on after production.
An Aurora spokesperson emphasized that the company has not yet made an announcement on which of the two manufacturers would be used for its planned commercial launch at the end of this year and that the company would make that announcement in the future.
Paccar and Volvo have different business plans for the platform — Paccar plans to sell autonomous vehicles directly to consumers, while Volvo Autonomous Solutions (VAS) plans to license trucks. Aurora's main revenue stream from both is derived on the per milage cost to utilize its software. The company also has plans to produce vehicles with German auto supplier Continental starting in 2027 as part of a broader deployment of the technology.
Successful commercial deployment of Aurora's technology would be a historic milestone for the autonomy sector, which has driven billions of dollars in investments to the Pittsburgh region. That investment has not come without loss — multiple companies have closed or been forced to layoff employees, Aurora included.
While autonomous driving systems have appeared in automobiles in recent years, these systems, such as Tesla's autopilot, are not classified at the same level of autonomy as Aurora's tech. Public opinion on autonomous systems has skewed negative, with a poll by AAA reporting that only 9% of Americans "trust" self-driving cars. Accidents involving robotaxis have prompted regulatory probes of Cruise and Waymo, and many in the industry have linked these incidents to the lack of trust.
While the road ahead for the sector remains unclear, VAS head of business development Magda Collado wrote on LinkedIn that the production was "an achievement" that showed "a clear path to autonomy."
