Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) is in early talks with Uber, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.
A partnership with Uber could be announced by the end of the year, although there are no other specifics related to the potential deal, the publication reported. Uber may also be in talks with other carmakers.
Fiat recently announced a partnership with Google on its driverless cars to build 100 self-driving cars using its Pacifica model minivan. The company became the first automaker to cement a deal with the tech giant, as Fortune reported.
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has been going after partnerships with tech companies, such as Google and Uber, in recent months. Additionally, Bloomberg reported that the car company is in talks with Amazon.
“The question here is if Fiat Chrysler is right in working with new industry participants or it should rather try to compete with them like the other carmakers are doing,” Massimo Vecchio, an analyst at Mediobanca, said in an interview with the publication. “We believe that the scenario where every carmaker develops its own autonomous driving is another example of capital wasting in the industry.”
Fortune has reached out to Uber for comment and we will update this story if we hear back. Fiat declined to comment.
