Flex and Savari -- Driving to Advance Global Transportation Safety with Connected Car and Smart City Solutions

SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwired - March 15, 2017) - Flex (NASDAQ: FLEX), the Sketch-to-Scale™ solutions provider that designs and builds intelligent products for a connected world, and Savari Inc., a leader in automotive V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) safety communication technology, are on a mission to improve global traffic safety and efficiency.

As part of a new collaboration that expands on their existing design and manufacturing partnership, Flex and Savari will jointly develop Connected Car and Smart City V2X hardware and software connectivity solutions.

V2X technology enables communication between a vehicle and anything in the environment that may affect it, including other vehicles (Vehicle-to-Vehicle, or "V2V"), surrounding infrastructure (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure, or "V2I") and even pedestrians (Vehicle-to-Pedestrian or Vehicle-to-Phone).

V2V technology enables vehicles to communicate with each other through wireless exchange of data, with the objective of improving safety, reducing traffic congestion, and improving the overall travel and transportation environment.

V2I technology enables the wireless exchange of data between vehicles and roadway infrastructure, with key applications including e-tolling, intersection safety, speed management, transit safety and operations, and work-zone or low-bridge warnings. This technology has the potential to transform infrastructure equipment -- including stoplights and weather information systems -- into 'smart' infrastructure by incorporating algorithms that recognize high-risk situations while they are developing, and responding with driver warnings and countermeasures.

V2P technology enables pedestrians and bicyclists to be active participants in a V2X environment by using their smartphone to send and receive alerts, signaling transit infrastructure like crosswalk signals for individuals needing more time, or sending alerts to cars that a pedestrian is in the crosswalk or a bicyclist is in the bike lane.

Chris Obey, president of Automotive at Flex, said, "Every year, there are 1.25 million traffic-related fatalities worldwide*; in 2015, there were over 35 thousand in the U.S. alone**. We believe the answer to reducing these terrible statistics lies in vehicle connectivity, which is the primary focus of our work with Savari."

Obey continued, "We've been working with Savari on hardware design and small scale manufacturing for the past year, and now we are expanding our work to include infrastructure development for smart city technology trials and new vehicle connectivity solutions, furthering our strategic focus on connected cars and autonomous vehicles."