Delphi acquisition a warning shot to carmakers?

The deal, reported by Bloomberg to be worth £1.07Bn, comes among a set of acquisitions Delphi has made to expand its vehicle connectivity power base.

HellermannTyton is a Crawley manufacturer of ties, insulation and protection systems for automotive cables.

In a statement Delphi said the purchase will enable it to capitalise on growing demand for cars that connect to mobile phones and other devices.

Naturally, with the likes of Google and Apple investigating production of their own autonomous vehicles, the Gillingham headquartered Delphi has already successfully piloted a driverless car across the US and pundits don’t see why it couldn’t also join battle in producing cars of the future.

Delphi completed the longest automated drive in North America, travelling from San Francisco to New York in the first coast-to-coast trip ever taken by an automated vehicle. Nearly 3,400 miles were covered with 99% of the drive in fully automated mode. 

The nine-day trip crossed 15 states and the District of Columbia.  Along the way, the vehicle encountered complex driving situations such as traffic circles, construction zones, bridges, tunnels, aggressive drivers and a variety of weather conditions.

“Delphi continues to be focused on the car of the future,” said Chris McNally, an analyst at Evercore ISI in London told Bloomberg. “It’s leading this charge into the connected cars space.”

“With consumers now demanding more connectivity in their vehicles, electrical architecture is the enabler to that added vehicle content,” Delphi CEO Kevin Clark said a statement. The purchase also allows Delphi to expand into products for other industries, such as aerospace, defence, alternative energy and mass transit, he said.

Delphi said it plans to complete the HellermannTyton deal late in the fourth quarter.

Don't miss Active Safety: ADAS to Autonomous this October 12-13.