Isuzu North America Corporation and Gatik have agreed to collaborate on a project to develop and evaluate fully autonomous medium-duty trucks.
Isuzu is a market leader in Low Cab Forward (LCF) trucks in the U.S. and Canadian markets. Gatik is an industry leader in automating on-road transportation networks for B2B middle-mile logistics. This collaboration is an industry first in the medium-duty category and will accelerate the commercialization of autonomous delivery fleets while contributing to a safer and more sustainable logistics community in the future, according to an announcement.
The collaboration will integrate Gatik’s autonomous driving technology into several Isuzu medium-duty N-Series trucks to produce SAE Level 4 delivery vehicles with redundant systems. The first vehicles will be deployed this year.
“By bringing these two teams together, we can create segment-changing technology while positioning Gatik to safely commercialize autonomous delivery technology at scale,” says Gatik CEO and Co-Founder Gautam Narang. “Isuzu N-Series trucks have been best-sellers in their class in the combined U.S.-Canadian market for 35 consecutive years, making them an ideal fit for our solution. We are excited to combine our industry-leading expertise and bring a long-term, sustainable solution to the supply chain.”
Takashi Sadaoka, president and CEO, Isuzu North America Corporation, says, “As customer requirements for the medium-duty product evolve at an increasingly rapid pace, having the ability to collaborate with Gatik, an industry leader in autonomous technology is very exciting for our team.”
Rapidly increasing e-commerce sales and a well-documented driver shortage have caused businesses to struggle to meet the expectations of on-demand goods movement. This effort will combine Gatik’s autonomous driving software and operational expertise with Isuzu’s award-winning truck platform to address these critical industry pain points, ensuring retailers can maintain capacity, lower operating costs, and keep delivery times short, the companies say.