Lund has quietly emerged as a powerhouse for automotive technology, attracting global giants like Volvo, Bosch, Volkswagen, and Rivian. The city’s deep expertise in sensor technology, wireless communication, and embedded systems, originally honed during the mobile phone era, is now driving innovation in the car industry. Rapidus has done a longer article, exploring the background.
From Ericsson to Automotive Giants
It all began with Ericsson, whose Lund-based mobile platform division was later acquired by Intel. When Intel closed its Lund office in 2016, a group of skilled engineers faced uncertainty. Instead of starting a consultancy, they approached Volvo Cars, which lead to the creation of a new R&D unit in Lund. Today, Volvo employs nearly 400 people in the city, focusing on software for electric and autonomous vehicles.
“We knew our expertise was in demand, and we weren’t particularly eager to start a consulting firm. So we took a meeting with Volvo and explained what we could do. It was quite unique because there was no company, no product – just 40 people with broad expertise,”
says Henrik Svensson, Site Manager at Volvo Cars in Lund, to Rapidus
A Magnet for Global Players
Lund’s talent pool and research ecosystem have drawn major players since then. Bosch now has almost 200 employees in Lund, developing autonomous driving and connected infotainment systems. Nvidia and Continental Automotive established offices at Ideon Science Park, focusing on car tech innovation. Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies (RVT) recently acquired Iternio, a Lund-based startup behind the route-planning tool A Better Route Planner, with plans to expand their team to 50+ in the next year.
“We’re not only expanding our existing trip-planning functions but also adding new areas of work. Today, we’re about 20 people in Lund, and in a year, we aim to be at least 50,”
says Bo Lincoln, who leads RVT’s Lund initiative, to Rapidus
A thriving ecosystem of startups and established companies is taking shape in the region, with a center in Lund. Startups and companies like Zenseact (Volvo’s self-driving software unit), Acconeer, Remotive Labs, Setrab, Terranet and Koenigsegg pushing boundaries in autonomous driving, electrification, and smart mobility.
The region has a world-class research, especially with Lund University. There is a strong tradition of collaboration between academia and industry.
“|A]ll the key ingredients for software-defined vehicles: proximity to groundbreaking research and a highly educated workforce; a strong tradition of entrepreneurship and collaboration between academia and industry; proximity to other high-tech companies, which creates synergies and attracts investment; and a high quality of life that makes it easy to attract and retain talent,”
says Florian Marcard, who leads Bosch R&D Lund in the article
Photo by News Oresund, CC-BY license
