Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

Traditional automakers lead the way on self-driving cars, study reveals

Stephen Edelstein
By

Second-generation Ford Fusion Hybrid autonomous prototype
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Tech companies’ efforts to disrupt the auto industry and take the lead in self-driving cars may get a lot of press, but the companies that actually build cars still have the advantage.

That’s the conclusion of a new Navigant Research study ranking companies’ progress in developing self-driving cars, and their perceived ability to bring autonomous driving to the consumer market. Navigant surveyed 18 companies, including both traditional automakers and tech firms. The automakers came out on top.

Recommended Videos

Ford was ranked the leader in autonomous-car development, followed by General Motors and the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Daimler and the Volkswagen Group rounded out the top five. Waymo was the highest-ranked non-automaker, in seventh place. Tesla and Uber were ranked 12th and 16th, respectively.

Related

In a previous study published in 2015 that didn’t include tech companies, Ford placed outside the top five. The Blue Oval placed higher this time around thanks in part to partnerships with companies that supply relevant tech, including lidar supplier Velodyne and 3D mapmaker Civil Maps. Ford also has concrete plans to launch a production self-driving car for ride-sharing services in 2021. Since it’s already in the business of making cars, Ford has the means to do it.

In contrast, Uber lost points for not having a clear way to commercialize its self-driving tech. While the company is testing autonomous cars on public roads, it’s run into a few snags. One of the cars was involved in a crash last week, and Uber is currently fighting a lawsuit from Waymo, which claims the ride-sharing company benefitted from data stolen by one of its former employees.

Waymo, the former Google self-driving car project, has been testing autonomous cars for years, but hasn’t found a way to commercialize the tech. It’s now working with Chrysler on a fleet of 100 autonomous Pacifica Hybrid minivans, and may partner with Honda was well. Because while tech companies may be able to develop autonomous-driving systems on their own, they still can’t build the cars that will use those systems. And building cars is not a trivial task.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Stephen Edelstein
Stephen Edelstein
Contributing Editor
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
Waymo’s self-driving cars can’t get enough of one dead-end street
waymo

Waymo has been testing its self-driving cars in San Francisco for the last decade. But an apparent change to the vehicles’ routing has caused many of them to make a beeline for a dead-end street in a quiet part of the city, causing residents there to wonder what on earth is going on.

At CBS news crew recently visited the site -- 15th Avenue north of Lake Street in Richmond -- to see if it could work out why so many of Waymo’s autonomous cars are showing up, turning around, and then driving right out again.

Read more
Watch San Franciscans take a ride in Waymo’s self-driving car
Waymo Jaguar I-Pace

Waymo is inviting San Francisco residents to hop inside its self-driving vehicles for a drive around the city.

Welcoming our first riders in San Francisco

Read more
Tesla issues stark warning to drivers using its Full Self-Driving mode
A Telsa Model 3 drives along a road.

Tesla in recent days rolled out a long-awaited update to its Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode that gives its vehicles a slew of driver-assist features.

But in a stark warning to owners who’ve forked out for the premium FSD feature, Tesla said that the software is still in beta and therefore “may do the wrong thing at the worst time.” It insisted that drivers should keep their "hands on the wheel and pay extra attention to the road.”

Read more