The adoption of autonomous cars has increased tremendously in Europe over the last few years and is predicted to rise even more in the coming years.

The main reason promoting the deployment of autonomous cars in this region is the presence of favorable laws for the adoption of autonomous cars in many European countries. The policies pertaining to the intellectual property, product liability, corporate /M&A transactions, and cybersecurity in several European countries are very favorable for the development and sales of autonomous cars.

The regulatory policy recently implemented in Spain is the biggest example of such favorable policies related to autonomous vehicles. The Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) collaborated with Mobileye in 2017 for preparing an infrastructure ecosystem and favorable regulatory policy in the country for autonomous vehicles. The DGT encourages the adoption of all autonomous cars up to level 5 in the country. Similarly, in Germany, the Road Traffic Act was recently amended (June 2017) and this new amendment allows drivers to transfer driving control to an autonomous vehicle.

The other major factor fueling the demand for autonomous cars in Europe is the increasing customer preference for cars equipped with advanced safety systems and features. Moreover, people nowadays are preferring cars that provide them with an enhanced driving experience. Besides this, the growing popularity of connected car technologies is also boosting the sales of autonomous vehicles in Europe. Due to these factors, the European autonomous car market is predicted to register consistent growth in the coming years.

In terms of vehicle autonomy, the autonomous cars are divided into fully autonomous and semi-autonomous cars. Of these, the sales of the semi-autonomous cars were higher during the last few years. However, this trend will not last long and the adoption of fully autonomous vehicles will increase rapidly in Europe in the future years. This is mainly attributed to the rapid development of fully autonomous vehicles in the region. Furthermore, the utilization of level 5 and level 4 autonomous vehicles in car sharing services in various European nations is swiftly pushing up the sales of these cars in the region.

Based on application, the European autonomous car market is classified into commercial and personal vehicles. Between these, the commercial category is expected to record the highest growth in the market in the upcoming years. This is credited to the rising adoption of fully autonomous cars in ride sharing services and the utilization of robotaxis in ride-hailing services in many European countries. Further, the increasing availability of autonomous cars in sharing services is making people prefer these ride-sharing services over the personal ownership of these vehicles for travelling purposes.

Globally, the European autonomous car market registered the highest volumetric growth in Germany during the past few years, as per the findings of the market research firm, P&S Intelligence. This is ascribed to the existence of prominent OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in the country such as Volkswagen AG, Tesla Inc., and BMW and the subsequent launch of new and advanced models having higher automation features. These vehicles are equipped with various advanced driver assistance systems (ADASs) such as smart park assist, anti-lock braking, and blind spot detection systems, which make them highly sought after amongst customers.

Thus, it can be safely said that the sales of autonomous vehicles will climb in Europe in the upcoming years, mainly because of the increasing implementation of favorable government policies in the European countries and the burgeoning customer demand for advanced vehicles equipped with enhanced safety systems and possessing self-driving features.

Source: P&S Intelligence