Skip to main content

R&D on autonomous, connected and electric vehicles creates growth opportunities, says research

As the automotive industry faces narrowing margins, the need to look to other revenue streams and keep the customer committed to the brand for their next purchase is paramount, says Frost & Sullivan. Automotive manufacturers are therefore focusing on research and development (R&D) on autonomous, connected, and electrification (ACE) technologies to build fully connected and completely autonomous vehicles. To thrive in this highly competitive, evolving market, manufacturers need to look beyond seeing themselv
September 18, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
As the automotive industry faces narrowing margins, the need to look to other revenue streams and keep the customer committed to the brand for their next purchase is paramount, says 2097 Frost & Sullivan. Automotive manufacturers are therefore focusing on research and development (R&D) on autonomous, connected, and electrification (ACE) technologies to build fully connected and completely autonomous vehicles. To thrive in this highly competitive, evolving market, manufacturers need to look beyond seeing themselves as product suppliers and focus on becoming providers of mobility services. This will open the door for lucrative, new digital revenue streams.


Frost & Sullivan’s research, Global Key Automakers’ Autonomous, Connected, and Electrification Strategies, Forecast to 2025, finds that between 2015 and 2025, 10 key automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are expected to spend about US$345 billion on ACE R&D. The study provides a strategic overview of the R&D activities of key OEMs, including key technology development, investment plans, expenditure trends, current expertise, and impact on business performance. Major players such as Volkswagen (VW), Toyota, BMW, General Motors, Ford, Mercedes (Daimler), Nissan-Renault and Tesla, and their ACE technology strategies, are provided.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Thales builds on Canadian connection for transit R&D
    June 20, 2016
    The Canadian province of Ontario is continuing to benefit from its ongoing investment in transit R&D. David Crawford looks at the impact of new investment. Developing the next generation of urban rail signalling solutions worldwide, with the emphasis on transit security and efficiency, is the goal of a recently-created business partnership between the government of the Canadian province of Ontario and Thales Canada. The wholly-owned subsidiary of the France-HQ'd global defence, aerospace and transportation
  • Embedded connectivity delivers real time travel information
    February 3, 2012
    Ton Brand describes the GSM Association's Embedded mTelematics programme. As the world's roads become increasingly crowded, consumers and businesses are demanding better real-time information to help them both avoid traffic congestion and make smarter use of public transport. Embedding mobile connectivity directly into vehicles can enable drivers and passengers to see live traffic flows in their localities, as well as the expected arrival time of the next bus, ferry or tram
  • IBTTA 2011 Annual Meeting highlights developing trends in tolling
    January 26, 2012
    Alain Estiot, chief meeting organiser of this year's IBTTA Annual Meeting and Exhibition, talks about hot topics for discussion. The IBTTA's 79th Annual Meeting and Exhibition, which takes place this year in Berlin in September, will once again take many of the developing trends from around the world and look at their effects on the tolling sector. Host organisation Toll Collect's Alain Estiot, chief meeting organiser, says that the event has to be viewed against a backdrop of major global change.
  • ITF Corporate Partnership Board projects highlight ways forward
    October 29, 2014
    The findings of the first four projects launched by the ITF Corporate Partnership Board (CPB), the organisation's platform for engaging with the private sector, have been announced. CPB projects are designed to enrich policy discussion with a business perspective. They are launched in areas where CPB member companies identify an emerging issue in transport policy or an innovation challenge to the transport system. Led by ITF, work is carried out in collaborative fashion in working groups consisting of CP