Magna develops and pilots autonomous last-mile road delivery solution

• Lower costs and reduce carbon emissions for the "last mile" delivery

  
  

• Magna develops self-driving systems and delivery software

  
  

• The trial demonstrated options for different business models, including Robotics as a Service (RaaS)

At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, Magna revealed how it is leveraging its expertise in vehicle electrification and automation to develop new mobility opportunities. Magna has successfully developed and is piloting a new "last mile" delivery solution for urban environments.

Magna's all-electric self-driving "last mile" delivery robot is working on Michigan city streets

Magna's all-electric self-driving "last mile" delivery robot is working on Michigan city streets

Magna's all-electric self-driving "last mile" delivery robot is working on Michigan city streets

The solution integrates:

• A lightweight electric robot designed for road deliveries;

  
  

• A low-speed automated driving system developed by Magna;

  
  

• Delivery software developed by Magna.

To significantly reduce the cost and carbon emissions of last-mile delivery in cities, Magna's New Mobility Ecosystem team built a full-stack solution from scratch using automotive hardware and software. Magna's solution enables retailers and other stakeholders to provide end-to-end last-mile delivery across a range of possible business models.

Front view of the fully electric self-driving delivery robot for the “last mile”

The back of the fully electric self-driving delivery robot for the “last mile”

The electric self-driving delivery robot developed by Magna began trial operation at a pizza restaurant in the Detroit area in March 2022. Since then, it has delivered hundreds of pizzas to residential and commercial locations near the restaurant. Magna is improving the service through relevant data and consumer feedback.

The Magna robotaxi can travel at a speed of 32.2 km/h on public streets. The low-speed autonomous driving system developed by Magna is equipped with cameras, radars, lidar and other hardware.

“Expanding into new and evolving mobility sectors is a key part of Magna’s Go Forward strategy, which moves us beyond our existing capabilities in vehicles and components to enter new markets and business models,” said Matteo Del Sorbo, executive vice president of Magna International and head of Magna’s New Mobility Ecosystem business unit. “The next phase of this pilot program is to apply our learnings to further refine the solution to accommodate a wider range of application types and use cases, scale applications, and unlock innovative new business models.”

This development and pilot program follows two other recent announcements by Magna about new mobility opportunities:

• Helping accelerate the electrification of India’s two-wheeler industry by investing $77 million in Yulu, India’s largest shared electric mobility provider, to tap into the rapidly growing micromobility market and build out the required battery swap infrastructure;

  
  

• Partnering with autonomous robotics company Cartken to provide OEM services. Cartken develops autonomous sidewalk delivery and material handling robots for use in a Robotics as a Service (RaaS) business model. The collaboration covers Magna’s use of the Cartken platform in various applications.

Matteo Del Sauber added: "Magna's expertise stems from our capabilities in design, engineering and large-scale production. In addition, we want to explore opportunities to generate additional revenues, and these initiatives allow us to enter a new field, providing mobility services rather than just selling products."

About Magna International

Magna is one of the world's largest suppliers in the automotive industry and a mobility technology company. We have 161,000 innovative employees around the world. Thanks to the right operating structure, we are as aggressive as a startup. More than 65 years of technological accumulation and growth have enabled us to innovate in all areas of the automobile, design, develop and build a full range of product systems, and continuously drive the development of mobility technology in this rapidly iterating industry. We have branches all over the world, with 341 manufacturing plants and 89 product development, engineering and sales centers in 28 countries.