Qualcomm Inc announced on Monday that it would acquire Israel's Autotalks Ltd, which manufactures chips used in vehicle crash prevention technology, as the US firm seeks to expand its automotive business.

As the number of electric vehicles and automatic features in cars grows, so does the number of chips used by automakers, making the automotive market a key growth area for chipmakers.

In order to improve road safety, Autotalks develops dedicated chips for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications technology for manned and driverless vehicles.

"We have been investing in V2X research, development, and deployment since 2017 and believe that as the automotive market matures, a standalone V2X safety architecture will be needed for enhanced road user safety, as well as smart transportation systems," said Nakul Duggal, senior vice president - automotive, Qualcomm Technologies.

Qualcomm announced last year that its automotive business "pipeline" had grown to $30 billion, an increase of more than $10 billion since a late July announcement.

The company attributed the increase to its Snapdragon Digital Chassis product, which is used by automakers and their suppliers. The Snapdragon Digital Chassis is capable of assisting and autonomous driving, as well as in-car infotainment and cloud connectivity.

Qualcomm announced on Monday that it would incorporate Autotalks' solutions into its Snapdragon Digital Chassis product portfolio, but did not provide financial details.

Qualcomm added that the acquisition will be made through its unit Qualcomm Technologies.