Skip to main content

Study: Daimler, Audi, BMW, GM lead on autonomous vehicles

A new Leaderboard Report from Navigant Research examines the strategy and execution of 18 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including company profiles and rankings, to provide industry participants with an objective assessment of these companies’ relative strengths and weaknesses in the developing autonomous vehicle market. The report, Navigant Research Leaderboard Report: Autonomous Vehicle OEMs, examines the strategy and execution of 18 global vehicle manufacturers that are involved in the emerg
October 20, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
A new Leaderboard Report from 7560 Navigant Research examines the strategy and execution of 18 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including company profiles and rankings, to provide industry participants with an objective assessment of these companies’ relative strengths and weaknesses in the developing autonomous vehicle market.

The report, Navigant Research Leaderboard Report: Autonomous Vehicle OEMs, examines the strategy and execution of 18 global vehicle manufacturers that are involved in the emerging autonomous vehicle market. These players are rated 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.

Fully automated vehicles that do not require a human driver are expected to be about a decade away from production, but the incremental systems necessary as foundations for the technology are emerging today. A handful of OEMs in the autonomous vehicle segment are currently leading this market, differentiating themselves through exceptional technology development, strong supplier relationships, and sustainable business models.

“The competition to be first to move more advanced capability into production is strong,” says David Alexander, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. ”All of the major global OEMs are now participating, and aside from the four manufacturers in the lead, there are four more who are slightly ahead of the pack, with another five close behind.”

The desire to reduce injuries and deaths resulting from traffic accidents and the potential to reduce overall energy use represent the biggest factors driving vehicle automation, according to the report. Although reliability, security, and liability issues pose major barriers to adoption, the market is moving forward, and by 2020, manufacturers are expected to offer enhanced self-driving capability that includes the ability to change lanes and follow simple directions from a navigation system.

Using Navigant Research’s proprietary Leaderboard methodology, companies are profiled, rated, and ranked with the goal of providing industry participants with an objective assessment of these OEMs’ relative strengths and weaknesses in the fast-developing market for advanced driver assistance systems and self-driving features.  

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Study finds drivers open to automated driving
    January 21, 2014
    A new study by automotive company Continental finds a clear majority of motorists would welcome automated driving. The Continental Mobility Study 2013 indicates that 79 per cent of drivers in China, 77 per cent in Japan, 53 per cent in Germany, and 50 per cent in the US realise the benefit of automated driving. When asked about their individual intentions for using the technology, drivers specified they would primarily like to be driven through freeway roadworks and congestion and long freeway stretches.
  • University research shows a few self-driving cars can improve traffic flow
    May 15, 2017
    The presence of just a few autonomous vehicles can eliminate the stop-and-go driving of the human drivers in traffic, along with the accident risk and fuel inefficiency it causes, according to new research by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Funded by the National Science Foundation’s Cyber-Physical Systems program, the research was led by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers with expertise in traffic flow theory, control theory, robotics, cyber-physical systems, and transportation engine
  • US DOT issues guidelines for automated vehicles
    September 21, 2016
    The US Department of Transportation is issuing Federal policy for automated vehicles, laying a path for the safe testing and deployment of new auto technologies that have enormous potential for improving safety and mobility for Americans on the road. “Automated vehicles have the potential to save thousands of lives, driving the single biggest leap in road safety that our country has ever taken,” said US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This policy is an unprecedented step by the federal government
  • US ITS sector needs strategic leadership
    January 31, 2012
    The US is losing its advantage in the ITS sector because of a lack of strategic leadership, according to a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Here, Stephen Ezell, one of the report's authors, talks to ITS International about what can be done to remedy the situation. A new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Explaining International IT Leadership: Intelligent Transportation Systems, makes for sobering reading within the US ITS community.