With more and more companies entering the race to bring a driverless car to the market, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that it will be a highly competitive market, and the battle for dominance will be pretty intense. The hype surrounding driverless cars may have been started by Google, but now, almost all major car makers, including General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Toyota, and Audi, are developing their own autonomous driving technology and have already built one or more self-driving car prototypes. On top of these well-established manufacturers, Tesla Motors is also looking to get a piece of the action, heating up the competition further and making other companies step up their game.
At the moment, all facts point towards a long-term domination of Google, as it is already a few years ahead of the competition, with a prototype that has logged in hundreds of thousands of miles on public roads, without any significant incidents. The introduction of the two-seater with no steering wheel, brake or gas pedal a few months ago, only reinforced its position as a front-runner in the race to commercialize autonomous driving technology.
But, Google’s head start will not be enough for the tech giant to stay at the forefront of this emerging market, as other companies seem to be ramping up their efforts for development of autonomous driving technology, hoping to introduce a fully autonomous vehicle in 10-15 years. Of all major car manufacturers, Nissan is expected to pose the greatest threat to Google’s supremacy, having already built Nissan Leaf EV prototypes that are fitted with numerous sensors, radars and cameras, allowing the vehicles to navigate through traffic on their own. At the same time, they continue to equip many production models with various autonomous driving systems, as part of their efforts to bring a fully autonomous car by 2025.
Tesla Motors, the electric car maker, is also poised to become a serious player in the driverless car game. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, has said that his company is working on a prototype with a computer system that can take over 90 percent of the control of the car, and such a car could be commercially available in about three years. Tesla plans to develop its own technology, and obviously build the cars themselves, which could give it a significant competitive advantage, considering that Google will have to partner up with car makers to build a self-driving car, as they don’t have any experience in car manufacturing.
In any case, one thing is for sure – the driverless car market will be extremely competitive, and chances are that the leading players, at least in the beginning, will not include any of the world’s largest companies that have a long-standing tradition of building cars. The market will likely be dominated by the likes of Google and Tesla, that are known for their commitment to technological innovation, and have what it takes to inflict a serious blow to all major car makers when self-driving cars finally hit dealerships.