Perhaps if we made a metaphor for nature with Amazon as a company that distributes and sells products, it would be an elephant. But if we do it from the perspective of mobility and the automotive industry, we can say that it is an ant that digs little by little and collects its fruits stealthily.
As reported by our colleagues at Business Insider, Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Seattle company, is already firmly convinced to enter the automotive sector. The first action happened with Riviano: this American startup is 17% owned by Amazon, which in turn is Riviano’s main customer.
And while everything remains at home, the same brand has developed an electric delivery vehicle, the Rivian EDV, for the commercial giant. In addition to this first fleet, Amazon intends to have 100,000 vehicles by 2030 and to gradually eliminate its fleet of diesel vehicles.
The mobility plans of this financial mastodon not only go through Rivian but go further. Although at the moment it is a remote option, Bellevue wants to make a firm without drivers in their vehicles for free reasons, initially to transport goods between retailers.
The problem is that this infrastructure requires very complex technology and software to work without driverless vehicles.
But everything seems to be under control, because the American company has invested in two companies together to create this type of autonomous vehicle. The group has already acquired about 5% in Aurora, the company owned by former Google executive Chris Urmson. This brand mainly focuses on logistics and mobility as a service sector.
The second investment came after the start of the Zoox acquisition (paid 1.2 billion dollars in 2020). This company has developed an autonomous robotaxis. This project, which does not require a steering wheel or pedals, began to be manufactured in June 2022. In addition, a few days ago it was approved to operate and transport people in California.
Also, Amazon is trying to develop Alexa into a kind of sub-operating system for the car. Their vehicles already install Amazon Auto, which enables functions such as finding parking and navigation to direct applications in the vehicle, such as controlling the heating.
These amalgamation of products and initiatives focused on mobility have great support, so it is not unlikely that they will come true. While the efforts seem scattered at first glance, his rivals are already beginning to fear Amazon, because even Apple and Google do not have enough of the automotive structure of Bezos’s company.
More about Gustavo López Sirvent, the author of this article. Learn how we work at Topgear.
