Robot Shuttle Dodges Paris Bankers in Training for U.S. Push
- Maker of driverless minibuses Navya builds plant in Michigan
- Conducts lifesize test in Paris business district La Defense
Race To Build Self-Driving Cars Accelerates
Navya Technologies SAS, a French maker of driverless shuttles, is training its robot-driven machines to navigate around bankers and corporate directors at Paris’ buzzing business district, ahead of a push to sell 150 vehicles in the U.S. by the end of 2018.
Backed by a French robotics and video-games entrepreneur and car-parts manufacturer Valeo SA, Navya is taking part in a $1 million investment into a plant in Saline, Michigan to assemble battery-powered vehicles for the U.S. market. Its current factory in Lyon, France, has pushed out some 50 shuttles so far to demos in places like London’s Heathrow airport and Parisian business neighborhood La Defense, where the likes of Societe Generale SA, insurers Axa SA and Allianz SE have offices.