TECHNOLOGY Mobileye To Work With Volkswagen On Self-Driving Cars

Mobileye (MBLY) stock broke out Monday on news that it will partner with Volkswagen(VLKAY) in self-driving cars.

The two companies say they will work together to implement "a new navigation standard for autonomous driving starting in 2018." Volkswagen also said  "future Volkswagen models will use the camera-based map and localization technology" by Mobileye, which is called Road Experience Management.

Mobileye stock ended the regular trading session up 5% to 45.48 on the stock market today. Shares broke out of a cup-with-handle base at a buy point of 45.03, touching a five-month high.

The Volkswagen announcement is the latest in a string of deals Mobileye has pursued. In late December, Mobileye announced it will partner with digital mapping company Here, owned by a consortium of German automakers, to develop a precise global map that can be used for hands-free driving and location services. Here poses a threat to Google Maps owner Alphabet (GOOGL).

IBD'S TAKE: Safety questions or not, the era of the self-driving car is here, but moving up fast are self-driving trucks, which are also being tested on roads or are under development by leading truck manufacturers.

The three owners of Here are BMW (BMWYY), Mercedes-Benz and Audi, which together acquired the mapping business from Nokia (NOK) in August 2015 for $3 billion. Volkswagen is the parent company of Audi.

That deal follows a joint venture Mobileye has with Intel (INTC) and BMW to develop a fleet of 40 self-driving vehicles by the second half of 2017. Intel is providing a broad set of in-vehicle technology with cloud-computing connectivity. Related to this, Intel recently introduced Intel Go, "a new brand for our automotive technology" with the goal of having Intel processors integrated into driverless cars. Intel says it will acquire a 15% stake in Here.

Every major automaker — including Tesla (TSLA), General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) — have driverless-car programs. And Alphabet last month announced it is spinning out its self-driving-car efforts from its research lab into its own business unit called Waymo.

Mobileye is set to report fourth-quarter earnings before the market open Feb. 22. Tesla is set to report earnings after the close on Feb. 22