Fiat Chrysler joins the BMW-Intel driverless club

Fiat Chrysler will join an alliance led by BMW to develop self-driving cars, intensifying a race by carmakers and technology companies to develop ‘robotaxis’ which can be called up via smartphone and paid for by the minute.

The market for such self-driving cabs could be worth €1.7tn by 2030, according to consultants McKinsey, as younger customers abandon car ownership in favour of a pay-per-use mobility service.

Fiat Chrysler said it plans to put autonomous car technology into production by 2021, matching a timeframe shared by rival companies who are also developing self-driving cars.