A new alliance has been formed in the effort to bring the world self-driving cars: German carmaker BMW Group is joining forces with Intel (NASDAQ: INTC
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Intel Corp
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) and Mobileye (NYSE: MBLY). The companies have committed to work together in order to bring fully autonomous vehicles to market, with the ambitious goal of having such cars in production by 2021.
Further, the trio will "strive for an industry standard and define an open platform for autonomous driving," according to their joint press release on the matter.
The BMW Group/Intel/Mobileye alliance is a strong one, as it unites the efforts of the world's top luxury vehicle manufacturer, its No. 1 chip maker, and one of the most prominent names in the assisted/autonomous driving segment.
Collaboration is necessary in the race to full road autonomy, as the technologies and components needed to build cars that can guide themselves are wide-ranging and complex. This particular tie-up has to be considered one of the most promising, given the know-how and resources the three companies can bring to bear.
However, the recent high-profile crash of a car using an autopilot option -- and the resulting death of its occupant -- illustrates one of the many challenges facing the those companies hoping to lead the transition from the automotive present to the future. Though many cars being built today have at least some assisted-driving features, the gap between the technology's current level and 100% autonomy is immense; BMW Group, Intel, and Mobileye will have to commit serious time, effort, and resources to their alliance if their self-driving cars are to be rolling off assembly lines five years from now.
