Bosch pursues self-driving cars with purchase of British firm Five

German car parts supplier Bosch is boosting its autonomous driving division with the acquisition of a software developer, reported dpa.

Stuttgart-based Bosch on Tuesday announced it was acquiring British start-up Five, which has its headquarters in the English university city of Cambridge and employs some 140 people.

The parties have not disclosed the purchase price. The competition authorities still have to approve the deal.

Bosch executive Markus Heyn said that automated driving should make road traffic safer, and the partnership with Five would offer customers "European-made technology."

Five was founded in 2016 and has built a team of experts in cloud software, robotics and machine learning, Bosch said.

It is the latest in a series of moves by Bosch to reorientate itself towards autonomous vehicles.

A few weeks ago, Bosch acquired digital map specialist Atlatec.

In addition, Bosch and the Volkswagen Group have announced a cooperation deal to produce self-driving cars, involving the creation of a software platform that can make highly automated functions suitable for mass production.