Study
Autonomous driving – Mercedes & Co excellence started to collapse
Automakers in China are quickly catching up in autonomous driving technology. German brands such as Mercedes and BMW are still performing better than expected. There is one main reason for this.
German carmakers have so far been well positioned when it comes to autonomous driving – but their lead is in danger of evaporating. This is the result of a study by the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) at Bergisch Gladbach in collaboration with network supplier Cisco Systems. Manufacturers from China in particular could be left behind.
The German manufacturer is so far well positioned when it comes to level 3 autonomous driving, where the driver can temporarily hand over responsibility to the car. Mercedes-Benz is clearly the innovation leader here: the brand is the only manufacturer to date to offer a traffic jam pilot in its S-Class, which can take the wheel to 95 km/h on the motorway. With the start of the New Class in 2026, BMW is one of the brands that will quickly follow suit.
Profit through traffic jam pilots
“The German automotive industry is currently playing a pioneering role in Level 3 systems for autonomous driving,” said CAM expert Stefan Bratzel, who prepared the research. “But this advantage is still fragile; Chinese manufacturers in particular will soon surpass German innovation performance,” Bratzel warned. By 2028, Chinese manufacturers will likely surpass German automakers in terms of innovation, Bratziel estimates.
Still, the situation in Germany is much better than its reputation suggests, Bratzel said. “We’re not in as bad of a mood as we are.” But this does not mean that the industry does not take the threat from China seriously. “But we must not continue to hide our light behind a bushel.”
Germany’s current good performance is mainly due to their strength in Level 3 functions. But this is a rather small market niche. According to the research, the situation is very different from the current assistance systems based on levels 2 and 2+, where the car offers more support but does not relieve the driver of responsibility. Manufacturers from China are already far ahead here, especially BYD, Nio and Xpeng.
China relies on driving assistance
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Since 2022, there has been a major increase among manufacturers in China. At the time, there was a real shift toward driver assistance in the country — “almost like a hype phase,” Bratzel said. Unlike in Germany, partially automated driving has long been standard in China. And US manufacturers like Tesla and Ford are also better positioned here than European manufacturers.
Overall, the share of China’s innovative strength in driving assistance and autonomous driving will be 70 percent by 2024, the study showed. Germany is far behind in second place with 14 percent, ahead of America with 12 percent. In 2016, things look very different: 60 percent of the innovative power in this topic of the future comes from German manufacturers.
VW in particular has advanced far in the past: in the period 2020 to 2024, the study found that no other company had such a high level of innovation in series development as the Wolfsburg-based company. The majority of these funds are used for driver assistance. In the last two years, the Wolfsburg team only finished sixth in the world. The five spots ahead all head to Asia.
“With their Level 3 capabilities, German automakers have impressively demonstrated that German-made autonomous driving is possible,” said Levar Ussery, automotive expert at Cisco in Germany. These advantages should not be abandoned now. “Connected cars should remain a German export success.” AI-powered IT infrastructure and digital networks are “key to ensuring that German manufacturers can continue to maintain this innovative strength.”
The study compared the innovative strengths of 28 global automaker groups. A total of more than 750 innovations were examined, including 500 fine innovations that were put into series production. To calculate the strength of innovation, each innovation is weighted based on its importance and impact.
dpa
