The automated vehicle market is predicted to be big news, both in terms of GDP growth of the auto market itself, but also across a large supply chain ecosystem and broader sustainability goals.
The automated vehicle market is predicted to have a very lucrative future. Estimates vary – Forbes reported1 a study which predicted that the market would grow from $54.23 billion in 2019 to $556.67 billion in 20262, the UK’s Transport Systems Catapult, estimated that the UK market for connected and automated vehicles would be worth £28bn by 2035, capturing 3% of the £907bn global market3, whilst Intel predict that autonomous driving technology will enable a new “Passenger Economy” worth US$7 trillion by 20504. Exact figures aside, it promises to be a vast area of potential growth – both direct and indirect, supporting broader economic wellbeing and productivity.
The development of the automated vehicle (AV’s) and connected automated vehicles (CAVs) has an interdependency with the development of connected or smart cities. The UN predicts5 that the urban population is expected to grow by 63% between 2014 and 2050, against the 32% total population growth in the same period. The move to smart cities is driven by this increasing urbanisation, stress on resources, the need to tackle inadequate infrastructure and the subsequent rising environmental challenges6. Automated vehicles will play an important role in managing the megacities of the future. As hubs of GDP (80% of the worlds GDP is created in cities7), cities play an important role in the success of nations. Managing congestion, increasing safety, helping to meet sustainability goals and driving down the
cost of transportation to tackle poverty and exclusion are just some of the benefits which could be realised by a truly connected autonomous vehicles.