Swedish company Volvo Cars has entered a framework agreement to sell autonomous driving (AD) compatible base vehicles to ride-sharing company Uber between 2019 and 2021.

All the vehicles have been developed on Volvo Cars’ Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), which is currently being used by automobile manufacturers worldwide.

Volvo Cars president and chief executive Håkan Samuelsson said: “The automotive industry is being disrupted by technology and Volvo Cars chooses to be an active part of that disruption.

“Our aim is to be the supplier of choice for AD ride-sharing service providers globally. Today’s agreement with Uber is a primary example of that strategic direction.”

“Our aim is to be the supplier of choice for AD ride-sharing service providers globally.”

The company noted that its engineers have worked with Uber engineers in order to develop the Volvo XC90 premium SUVs to be supplied to the ride-sharing firm.

The base vehicles feature all necessary safety, redundancy and core autonomous driving technologies enabling Uber to add its own self-driving technology.

Uber Auto Alliances head Jeff Miller said: “We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with Volvo. This new agreement puts us on a path towards mass-produced self-driving vehicles at scale.”

The non-exclusive agreement between both companies is expected to further enhance their strategic partnership that was announced in August last year.

Volvo also plans to use the same base vehicle in the development of its own independent autonomous car strategy, which is set to culminate in the release of its first fully autonomous car in 2021.