Autonomous vehicles technology is developing faster, with all major automakers are in the race

Traditional automakers are currently tackling the hydra-headed problem of disruptive technologies. The almost daily emergence of new competitors has been reshaping the auto industry and making the sector more technological advanced. The zenith of all these transformations is the ‘autonomous technology’. OEMs are investing billions of dollars annually to take the leads in developing the driverless car technology as well protect their strongholds.

Commodity Inside understands that economics, technological and social goals need to be achieved before the driverless vehicles formally start running on our roads. Below is our segmentation of these three building blocks.

Economics:
• Vehicle data monetisation
• Vehicle sharing

Technology:
• Connectivity
• Light-weighting
• Powertrain transformation

Social:
• Consumer behaviour
• Road safety

Autonomous technology itself will face a number of issues, and it needs to pass through deep learning before it becomes available to the public. Reliability of sensors in changing weather conditions, adaptability in changing road situations, passenger and road safety, 5G technology development, as well as cybersecurity are some issues need to be overcome. So far, governments are supportive of the technology as there is a wide array of benefits. It is also believed that autonomous technology is likely to reduce road accidents, though any further fatalities- the recent Uber’s self-driving car accident which killed a pedestrian in Arizona- may push back the technology deployment.

So far, OEMs are competing amongst themselves as well against technology developers. They also made some partnerships and alliances to accelerate the R&D process. Chinese automakers are also embarked on the autonomous technology bandwagon and aiming to become leaders in the technology. Most of the local automakers are speeding their progress before the upcoming big upheaval embraces them, when China will formally scrap its two-decade policy that capped the ownership of foreign automakers at 50%. The cap for commercial vehicles will cease in 2020, and for passenger vehicles will end in 2022.

This article is based on our recently publish report “Top 25 Automakers in the Autonomous Vehicles Market: Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies and Forecasts”.