Autonomous shuttle company Ohmio and its parent company HMI Technologies have signed a deal with the city of Heshan in the Guangdong province of China, to establish an Ohmio manufacturing plant for AVs and an AI transport research centre.
The agreement was signed by Mohammed Hikmet, the founder and chairman of HMI Technologies, and the deputy director of the Heshan industrial city administration committee, Wu Xiaoqing.
The partnership will start on 1 July. The original R&D centre in New Zealand will remain Ohmio’s primary one. The companies regard this milestone as a first step in the Ohmio’s development into a global AV manufacturer.
“Not only will Ohmio be able to meet its mass production requirements inside and outside of China, but this investment also adds a huge boost to our existing research activities in establishing an autonomous platform solution as part of an entire ecosystem”, said Dean Zabrieszach, CEO of HMI Technologies and Ohmio.
HMI technologies is an intelligent transportation systems (ITS) innovator based in New Zealand that develops and produces systems and equipment such as variable signs, network-based systems, sensors and integrated location services solutions. Ohmio is part of HMI and develops AV technology and makes a number of autonomous shuttles.
By Illya Verpraet