Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2017

124 Chapter II Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
The major
manufacturers are
preparing to produce
autonomous vehicles by
the end of this decade.
2014). 17 It has also made progress in technologies that enable the autonomous driving of
trucks and communication between fleets of vehicles of this type (Highway Pilot), with
commercial production set to begin in 2025 (Daimler, 2017). 18 In early 2017, Daimler AG
signed a cooperation agreement with Uber to develop and produce autonomous cars that
will be integrated into its global fleet (Bloomberg, 2017a). It also signed an agreement with
Robert Bosch GmbH to pool efforts in the development of fully autonomous vehicles, aimed
at supplying robotized taxis and shared cars at the start of the next decade. The agreement
focuses on the joint development of the software and algorithms needed to make these
advanced driving systems safe and predictable (Fortune, 2017a).
BMW formed an alliance with Mobileye —the leading provider of advanced driver
assistance systems— and Intel, to produce a fully autonomous car by 2021, called iNEXT.
In mid-2017, BMW announced that it would launch a fleet of 40 cars with this technology
for testing in cities in the United States and Europe (Fortune, 2017b).
Following the emissions scandal that erupted in 2015, in mid-2016, Volkswagen launched
Strategy 2025 to restructure the company, focusing on electric vehicles and autonomous
driving technologies. Over the next 10 years, it plans to market about 30 fully electric
vehicles and sell between 2 million and 3 million of them by 2025 (Forbes, 2016c). In early
2017, Volkswagen introduced a prototype that combines the concepts of electric vehicle,
autonomous driving and shared mobility. The self-driving car, or “Sedric” will be completely
autonomous, with no steering wheel or pedals; and it will have an interior designed as a
small room with four seats (two facing two) (El País, 2017c). At the same time, Volkswagen’s
subsidiary Audi, drawing on a long collaboration with the United States enterprise Nvidia
—which specializes in integrated circuits and graphics processing systems— announced
the launch of an autonomous car in 2020 and exhibited a prototype (Q7 SUV) which learnt
to drive alone in four days, based on Nvidia’s artificial intelligence (The Verge, 2017a).
Together with BMW and Audi, Daimler AG acquired the map and navigation company
HERE Technologies for US$ 3.1 billion in late 2015 (Wired, 2015). This gave the main
German manufacturers a sophisticated mapping service (considered a key component
for autonomous driving) and achieved greater independence from the main competitors
in this service: Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook.
Currently, Toyota is the vehicle manufacturer with the largest number of autonomous
driving patents (Automotive News, 2016a). It has made the most of universities and
provided funding of about US$ 50 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) and Stanford University. In 2015, Toyota set up a research centre in Silicon Valley
with a budget of some US$ 1 billion to speed up the development of new applications in
artificial intelligence, robotics and advanced materials. The two main research lines of the
Toyota Research Institute (TRI) are the Chauffeur and Guardian systems. 19 In March 2017
in California, Toyota introduced the second generation of a vehicle equipped with sensors,
cameras and radar, offering various autonomous driving functions.
In early 2017, Ford announced that it would produce autonomous vehicles within
four years. To that end, it planned a US$ 1 billion investment in Argo AI, an enterprise
founded by former Google and Uber experts, specialized in robotics and artificial
intelligence, to develop the software needed for the next generation of driverless cars
17
In the Intelligent Drive system, sensors, controls and 36 technologies are integrated and work together, resulting in driving
autonomy of about 70%. Intelligent Drive includes systems to help prevent collisions, a pedestrian and animal recognition
feature, lane keeping, parking assistance, rear-crash monitoring, crosswind stabilization, distance control, night vision and a
suspension that automatically adjusts before the car hits an imperfection on the road. Those technologies work with 12 ultrasonic
and six radar sensors and eight cameras that monitor 360 degrees of the car (Automotive News, 2014).
18
Using cameras and radar sensors, the Highway Pilot technology analyses traffic and transmits information to the systems,
controlling vehicle speed and direction. In addition, thanks to an integrated three-dimensional map, autonomously driving trucks
always know where they are going (Daimler, 2017).
19
While Chauffeur is a fully autonomous system, Guardian is a high-level assistance platform for the driver, which constantly
monitors the driving environment both inside and outside the vehicle, in order to avoid collisions (Forbes, 2017a).