NXP announced a new strategic partnership and investment agreement with Chinese autonomous driving technology company Hawkeye Technology Co., Ltd., which is at the forefront of China's automotive radar field. The two companies will jointly form a reference design collaboration to create an NXP-based reference design for the Chinese automotive market.

China's automotive radar sensor market is growing at nearly twice the world market rate. The current automotive market analysis predicts that by 2020, radar technology will account for 50% of all new production vehicles. This cooperation will involve important research areas of automotive radar, to help China's domestic Tier 1 suppliers address the challenges of this complex, rapidly evolving technology through complete radar system solutions and reference designs. The collaboration is designed to help shape the future of China's radar implementation.

"The partnership with Hawkeye demonstrates NXP's confidence in the Chinese market and our determination to invest in the country. Automakers like Hawkeye have become a driving force for the transformation of the Chinese automotive industry. We are happy to work with these outstanding partners to improve road safety," said Kurt Sievers, president of NXP Semiconductors.