Ford Leads List On Automated Driving, New Report Finds

If you're on the lookout as to which car players are raking up in terms of performance and quality in autonomous driving, then consider this new report as your ultimate guiding when finally choosing that self-driving brand. But as far as Ford enthusiasts go, they can now start to form a group a rejoice.

As cited by TechCrunch, a report by Navigant Research revealed that automaker Ford is leading the pack in terms of the self-driving technology. The annual survey has generated the list by looking into 18 different companies under 10 varying criteria which comprised of strategy, core tech development, staying power and manufacturing capability among others. Meanwhile, Ford has duly expressed its satisfaction from the said output.

As per CTO Raj Nair, Ford's placement in the study further justifies the company's prime ability to develop cars and creating them at such a scale. In addition, Nair has shared that the firm's mobility services approach along with its subsidiary company will see autonomous vehicles launched ahead in ride-hailing and delivery fleets accordingly.

Meanwhile, Navigant also stated that Ford's investment and its M&A strategy are also reasons as to why the company has taken the title. Accordingly, the firm has taken investments in Civil Maps, Velodyne, along with the autonomous AI startup Argo. Moreover, Ford has acquired Chariot and SAIPS, an algorithmic platform startup to beef up its self-driving applications.

Trailing Ford is GM among the top tier companies which made the list. The latter has spearheaded the "execution" department, decidedly edging the former. Other companies in the leading tier include Renault-Nissan, Daimler with Waymo, Tesla and Delphi rounding up the "Contenders" group. On the other hand, the "Challengers" group consists of Uber, Baidu, and Honda, as per Automotive News. The rest of the companies that were included in the list have yet to comment.