Lear Corp., a leading manufacturer of automotive seating and electrical distribution systems, has announced the acquisition of automotive connectivity supplier Arada Systems Inc. This marks the second technology company Lear has acquired this year.
Arada is a leading developer of software and hardware for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication technology that carries out tasks such as train crossing notification, platooning, collision avoidance and traffic signal notifications.
According to Lear spokesman Mel Stephens, there are no planned changes to the company’s organization, which employs 45 people. Top management at Arada will report to Steve Rober, vice president of engineering for Lear’s electronics pision.
According to Lear CEO Matt Simoncini, the acquisition of Arada Systems, in addition to their recent acquisition of technology from Autonet Mobile in August, adds software and hardware capabilities to their portfolio to securely facilitate wireless communications between the vehicle and external networks, as well as other vehicles.
He added that they see outstanding growth opportunities for their electrical business as the connectivity mega-trend drives more requirements for data and signal management to meet growing demand for more communication and connectivity features in vehicles.
