Minus Zero and Ashok Leyland Forge Partnership to Transform Autonomous Trucking

Mar 19, 2024: Minus Zero, a prominent autonomous driving technology startup in India, has unveiled a strategic collaboration with Ashok Leyland, the leading commercial vehicle manufacturer in the country and a flagship of the Hinduja Group. This groundbreaking partnership aims to redefine the landscape of commercial trucking by deploying autonomous solutions on a large scale.

The primary objective of this alliance is to develop customized autonomous trucking solutions tailored for ports, factory operations, and corporate campuses. Future plans include expanding into hub-to-hub applications and long-haul trucking, pending the evolution of regulatory frameworks governing autonomous driving.

Central to this partnership is the seamless integration of Minus Zero’s cutting-edge autonomous driving platform, which leverages its pioneering nature-inspired AI technology, into Ashok Leyland’s extensive fleet of commercial vehicles. By harnessing Ashok Leyland’s renowned product portfolio and safety standards alongside Minus Zero’s expertise in self-driving technology, the collaboration aims to ensure the safe and scalable adoption of autonomous driving in commercial vehicles.

Last year, Minus Zero showcased the capabilities of its autonomous driving platform in a controlled environment through a purpose-built vehicle, zPod.

As global regulations and infrastructure continue to evolve to support autonomous driving, this collaboration has the potential to offer joint product offerings to international markets.

Gagandeep Reehal, CEO and Co-founder of Minus Zero, expressed, “Ashok Leyland brings decades of experience in delivering high-quality products at scale, and we’re thrilled to partner with them in accelerating autonomous driving in India and beyond. With our Nature-inspired AI, we are poised to bring about a paradigm shift by constructing Foundational AI models for autonomous driving. This partnership marks the inception of India’s Autonomous Driving narrative.”

N Saravanan, Chief Technology Officer at Ashok Leyland, commented, “Ashok Leyland has been exploring ways to reduce logistics costs in India in line with the Government’s National Logistics Policy. We envision a role for autonomous driving in specific sectors to achieve this goal, and we have been collaborating with pioneering startups in this domain. Minus Zero’s capabilities and vision have impressed us, and we are eager to collaborate with them in developing India-specific solutions that can be scaled globally. We foresee ancillary benefits in crafting cost-effective active safety solutions to mitigate road accidents.”