Robotaxis ventures making slow but sure progress

Unlike other frontrunners in the segment, such as Waymo and Cruise, global automated-tech supplier Mobileye has no plans to manage its own ride-hailing fleet. Instead, the Jerusalem company plans to sell its self-driving system to partners, which includes German companies Schaeffler Group, Sixt, Benteler, Deutsche Bahn, and most recently, Volkswagen.

Another differentiator for Mobileye is its two-pronged approach: The company develops both advanced driver-assistance systems and fully autonomous technology. It uses a radar-and-camera system for the driver-assistance systems. And in its plans to achieve higher levels of autonomy, it adds an independent second system reliant on lidar as a cross-check.

A big benefit to having millions of driver-assistance systems in production and on the road is that Mobileye is crowdsourcing data from those vehicles. Another benefit: Revenue from driver-assistance systems today builds a financial bridge to a point when autonomous-systems become profitable.

That strategy earned Mobileye the top-ranked spot among all companies on consulting firm Guidehouse Insights Automated-Driving Systems leaderboard in March. Sam Abuelsamid, the report’s author, wrote in an assessment of Mobileye’s strategy and execution that the “combination of ADAS and ADS business puts Mobileye at the head of this pack.”