Photo: Navigant Research
If you don’t like the subject of autonomous driving, tough luck, because chances are you’ll be hearing a lot more about it in the upcoming years. Along with the electrification of our beloved cars, this seems to be the way forward.
It’s not that manufacturers want to take the fun out of driving, it’s just that the number of accidents has been on a constant rise with cars becoming more and more accessible. And apparently, taking the human element out of the equation seems to be the best way to reduce the number of traffic-related casualties.
After all, carmakers have been striving to offer the best possible safety for the occupants of their cars, and the exponential evolution of electronic aid systems has naturally led to where we are now: cars that can go from A to B without human intervention.
The funny thing is this has happened over a relative short time span - remember the ‘80s when we were watching Knight Rider and were thinking a car could never drive itself? Well, guess what, here we are, thirty years later, and that prospect has become reality.
In case you were wondering who we have to thank for that, Navigant Research compiled a graph showing us hoe 18 of the top automotive companies stack up regarding autonomous driving development. The graph features two axes, one entitled “Strategy” and the other “Execution.” Looking at the representation, we can see that most manufacturers have a pretty balanced position between the two, except maybe for the French companies Renault and PSA Peugeot-Citroen, who have spent more time theorizing about the issue than actually making it happen.
Navigant Research rated the 18 companies based on 12 criteria: vision, go-to-market strategy, partnerships, production strategy, technology, geographic reach, sales, marketing, and distribution, product capability, product quality and reliability, product portfolio, pricing, and company commitment.
We can’t really speak of a lone leader, but Daimler (with its Mercedes-Benz brand) seems to have firmly installed itself on the top spot. The closest dot behind it are actually two dots, representing (who else?) its biggest two rivals, Audi and BMW, who have an almost identical advancement with this kind of technology. General Motors, Ford, Volvo and Toyota are close by as well.
However, the study does not take into account another important player on the market, one that has recently launched a very capable self-driving feature for its most successful model: we’re talking about Tesla Motors, obviously.
After all, carmakers have been striving to offer the best possible safety for the occupants of their cars, and the exponential evolution of electronic aid systems has naturally led to where we are now: cars that can go from A to B without human intervention.
The funny thing is this has happened over a relative short time span - remember the ‘80s when we were watching Knight Rider and were thinking a car could never drive itself? Well, guess what, here we are, thirty years later, and that prospect has become reality.
In case you were wondering who we have to thank for that, Navigant Research compiled a graph showing us hoe 18 of the top automotive companies stack up regarding autonomous driving development. The graph features two axes, one entitled “Strategy” and the other “Execution.” Looking at the representation, we can see that most manufacturers have a pretty balanced position between the two, except maybe for the French companies Renault and PSA Peugeot-Citroen, who have spent more time theorizing about the issue than actually making it happen.
Navigant Research rated the 18 companies based on 12 criteria: vision, go-to-market strategy, partnerships, production strategy, technology, geographic reach, sales, marketing, and distribution, product capability, product quality and reliability, product portfolio, pricing, and company commitment.
We can’t really speak of a lone leader, but Daimler (with its Mercedes-Benz brand) seems to have firmly installed itself on the top spot. The closest dot behind it are actually two dots, representing (who else?) its biggest two rivals, Audi and BMW, who have an almost identical advancement with this kind of technology. General Motors, Ford, Volvo and Toyota are close by as well.
However, the study does not take into account another important player on the market, one that has recently launched a very capable self-driving feature for its most successful model: we’re talking about Tesla Motors, obviously.
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