Mercedes F015 concept car – designed from the outset for autonomous operation
WHO’S DRIVING YOUR CAR? In the global auto industry the big new concept is autonomous driving and the first cars able to partially drive themselves are not far off. Tony Lewin reports.
L
ike any other global business, the motor industry is prone to changes in mood and shifts in focus. After the doom and gloom of the 2008 crisis and the Chapter 11 collapse of General Motors and Chrysler there was a brief flurry of interest in electric cars; after that, crossovers and plug-in hybrids became the focus and, with the US market picking up and the European slide showing signs of having bottomed out, faster and more powerful models began to be seen as respectable again – especially as a source of much-needed profits. But while those recent trends may paint a somewhat confusing picture, there can be no doubt whatsoever as to what has been gripping the newly resurgent car business over the past 12 months. Wherever you go, whoever you speak to, the most excited and the most bullish talk is about autonomous driving – vehicles which, to a greater or lesser extent, guide themselves on certain
6 Industry Europe
types of journey and which could in theory leave the driver to relax with a newspaper, work through a full inbox of emails, or simply sit back and enjoy the ride. In truth, the speed and intensity of all the announcements has rather taken the industry by surprise. Developments in driverless vehicles – or autonomous cars, autopiloted cars, piloted drive, depending on who you are listening to – had been bubbling under for several years, with a handful of cumbersome research vehicles and many caveats about legal liability and infrastructure compatibility. It was only a year ago that Renault-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn declared his group would be marketing a self-driving car by 2020, and later that year that the Google driverless prototype made its much-publicised debut on the internet giant’s California campus. These were the two real wake-up calls, and since then the declarations and the predictions have been coming thick and fast.
As a slight aside, the fact that the Google name is now cropping up in an automotive context is an immensely significant one: it is a sign of an imminent and far-reaching shift in who does what and who gets the fattest returns in the auto business. Electronics giants Apple, Sony and Nokia are also keen for a slice of the action and to see their electronic software embedded in vehicle communications installations encompassing entertainment, navigation and, sooner than most people expect, vehicle guidance and control. The shift in emphasis towards electronics has meant a parallel change of focus for several leading automakers. January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year upstaged the globally famous Detroit auto show two weeks later by hosting several key automotive debuts, most notably the unveiling of Mercedes-Benz’s dramatically futuristic autonomous driving F015 concept car; likewise, Carlos Ghosn chose
