Delphi to buy self-driving tech startup nuTonomy for $450 mln

(Reuters) - Delphi Automotive Plc will buy self-driving car software startup nuTonomy for $450 million, the company said on Tuesday, helping to put automated vehicles using its technology into commercial use in 2019, a year earlier than planned.

Delphi and nuTonomy have been testing automated vehicles in Singapore, where regulators announced plans on Monday to cut growth in the population of vehicles to zero to ease traffic congestion. The city-state has been in the forefront of promoting self-driving cars.

Automakers and suppliers are investing in self-driving cars and ride services in part as insurance against moves to limit the use of private, petroleum fueled cars in the world's largest cities.

General Motors Co has been testing its self-driving cars in San Francisco and will begin testing in New York City.

The nuTonomy acquisition will double the size of Delphi's self-driving team to more than 200 engineers and scientists, said Glen DeVos, Delphi's chief technology officer.

The initial application of the auto supplier's self-driving cars will be in on-demand passenger and logistics fleets. Those vehicles, DeVos said, will be heavily automated and used in premapped areas in cities.

Delphi said it plans to have 60 self-driving test cars on the road in three continents by year-end. The nuTonomy deal is expected to close before then.

Morgan Stanley was exclusive adviser to nuTonomy. GCA Advisors, LLC and Goldman, Sachs & Co. advised Delphi.

(Reporting by Paul Lienert; Editing by Susan Thomas and Tom Brown)