It seems you can’t open a newspaper or turn on the TV without someone talking about the inevitable future of self-driving (autonomous) cars. Forget stressing over parallel parking – take your hands off the steering wheel and your car will do that for you in the future, if it’s not already!

Just like computers, cell phones, and even household appliances, cars are becoming more connected and intelligent than ever before. Whether your vehicle can provide you with better visibility when merging into traffic, or enable you to engage with Amazon’s Alexa from the road (coming to BMWs soon!), your car is the next internet-enabled device.

The types of technology enabling this transformation in the automotive industry are many, and varied. They can range from in-car Wi-Fi and “infotainment” applications embedded into your vehicle’s dashboard, to enhanced electric car batteries that provide longer range, to automated driver assistance systems (ADAS) that enhance vehicle systems for safer and better driving.

It’s not just the cool factor that’s pushing this intelligent vehicle momentum forward – there’s big money behind it as well:

• In November, Uber agreed to purchase tens of thousands Volvo XC90 SUVs, specifically modified for autonomous driving, between 2019 to 2021. “Right now, Uber’s ‘best guess estimate’ is that it will purchase around 24,000 vehicles. … the Financial Times estimatedthe purchase agreement could be valued at over $1.9 billion,” said Forbes.
• In March, Intel purchased Mobileye for $15.3B. Mobileye is a “maker of automotive vision technology used for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and fully autonomous vehicles. The deal … would set up Intel as the premier provider of autonomous vehicle chip and machine-vision technology for the ADAS industry, which the company estimates will grow to $70 billion by 2030,” according to Computerworld.
• In February, Ford announced an investment of $1 billion over the next five years in Argo AI, a startup founded by former Google and Uber employees to further the development of autonomous vehicle technology. “Ford said its relationship with Argo AI … will combine its existing autonomous vehicle development program with Argo AI’s robotics and ‘startup speed’ on artificial intelligence software,” reported Computerworld.

The common denominator and underlying factor enabling all of this automotive innovation is data. Ultimately data will be the true competitive differentiator for car manufacturers that learn how to harness it.

To create and develop these technical advancements, car manufacturers need to capture and analyze an incredible amount of data. Our client Dell EMC has been front and center in discussing the evolution of data in today’s automotive industry and the impact that data will have in shaping the business models for the industry in the future.

We recently conducted a series of briefings with Dell EMC’s Varun Chhabra, senior director of product marketing for storage (cloud, object and file) and analytics to introduce Dell EMC to the key automotive trade media.

Communiqué PR secured Varun as a guest for a podcast with Ron Hesse, chairman and CEO of Global Auto Industry, which provides information and resources for automotive suppliers, particularly for executives responsible for international operations or development. The podcast was shared via AMN (After Market News), which reaches approximately 20,000 automotive aftermarket industry professionals, and the Automation Alley daily newsletter, which is distributed to 4,000 members and media

You can listen to the podcast, “The Global Auto Industry’s Big Bet for 2018 and Beyond? … Big Data” to learn more about Dell EMC’s work in the automotive industry.

We also spoke with James Amend, a senior editor of WardsAuto, and John Larkin, publisher of Automotive Industries.

Wards Auto has covered the auto industry for more than 80 years. Its flagship product is WardsAuto.com, a comprehensive online resource and community filled with unique news, data and analysis, with full access available as a premium subscription. The online publication gets around 170,000 unique visitors per month.

Automotive Industries provides manufacturers and suppliers with in-depth news, information, insight and analysis on the global events that affect the auto industry. Interestingly, it is the world’s oldest continually published trade publication covering the automaking business. It was founded in November 1895 as “The Horseless Age,” the first magazine created to cover the world’s transition from horse-drawn conveyances to those powered by the new internal combustion engine.

It has been fascinating to work with the team at Dell EMC and to learn more about how these emerging technologies (and the data that power them) will affect what and how we as consumers drive and can expect from connected car innovations.