Gatik, an autonomous vehicle startup, and truck manufacturer Isuzu North America, will collaborate on developing a fully autonomous medium-duty truck.
Founded in 2017, Gatik has become the industry leader in automating on-road transportation networks for B2B middle-mile logistics. Isuzu has consistently been at the forefront of truck evolution, with its iconic models and quality making it a leader in the US and Canadian markets for the past 35 years.
This collaboration is an industry first in the medium duty category and will accelerate the commercialisation of autonomous delivery fleets while contributing to a safer and more sustainable logistics community in the future.
The first vehicles are expected to be deployed this year. The collaboration will integrate Gatik’s autonomous driving technology into a number of Isuzu medium-duty N-Series trucks to produce SAE Level 4 delivery vehicles.
Gatik already works with Walmart in Arkansas and Louisiana and Loblaw in Canada to deliver goods to stores from warehouses using autonomous trucks with safety drivers.
“By bringing these two teams together, we can create segment-changing technology while positioning Gatik to safely commercialise autonomous delivery technology at scale,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and Co-founder, Gatik.
“Isuzu N-Series trucks have been best-sellers in their class in the combined US-Canadian market for 35 consecutive years, making them an ideal fit for our solution. We are excited to combine our expertise and bring a long-term, sustainable solution to the supply chain.”
Takashi Sadaoka, President and CEO, Isuzu North America Corporation, added: “As customer requirements for the medium duty product evolve at an increasingly rapid pace, having the ability to collaborate with Gatik and its technology is very exciting for our team.”
Rapidly increasing e-commerce sales and a shortage of drivers have caused businesses to struggle to meet the expectations of on-demand goods movement. This collaboration will be able address these critical industry pain points, ensuring retailers can maintain capacity, lower operating costs and keep delivery times short.
