PARIS, March 20 Reuters European carmaker Stellantis announced on Wednesday that it was acquiring a stake in optical radar startup SteerLight as it seeks to strengthen its market position and secure access to crucial sensors for autonomous driving.

The move is aimed at diversifying supply of light detection and ranging, or lidar, and speeding up the development of components for its future electric fleet, Stellantis, the producer of Fiat, Peugeot and Citroen cars among other brands, said.

The amount of the investment, made through Stellantis Ventures, was not disclosed.

SteerLight, a company born out France39;s public micro and nanotechnology research centre CEALeti based in Grenoble, claims its lidar solutions are more compact and less expensive to manufacture than competing products.

The system is robust no moving parts and compact, maximizing flexibility for vehicle engineers. It overcomes challenges of today39;s Lidar technology for vehicles component size and high cost, Stellantis said.

SteerLight also announced the arrival of two other investors, Quantonation fund and Italian venture fund Liftt.

Reporting by Gilles Guillaume, writing by Tassilo Hummel, editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten

Source Reuters