Driving the Future: Insights into the Europe Autonomous Car Market

The Europe autonomous car market is growing, and this trend will continue in the future as well.

The major factors that are driving the growth of the industry are the government support for the testing and deployment of autonomous cars, the day-to-day rising need for efficient and safe driving options, and the evolving connected car technologies.

The industry is broadly divided into two categories—semi- and fully autonomous cars—based on the vehicle autonomy. The fully autonomous car category will grow faster, due to the rising adoption of level 4 & level 5 autonomous cars.

The market is categorized into ICE, HEV, and BEV on the basis of vehicle type. ICE-based autonomous cars hold the largest European market in terms of volume.

However, BEVs are expected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period mainly due to their easier integration of autonomous technology and better connectivity among several electrical components. This makes them more suitable for self-driving capabilities compared to other types of vehicles.

One of the major drivers for the boom in the Europe autonomous car market is regional countries’ road transportation laws and regulations, which are favorable for the advancement of the self-driving technology. Such rules regarding product liability, intellectual property, cybersecurity, and corporate transactions all aim to support the development of autonomous vehicles.

For example, in Spain, the Directorate General of Traffic encourages the operation of up to level 5 self-driving vehicles on the roads. Another such example, Germany has made an amendment to its Road Traffic Act, which allows drivers to transfer driving control to autonomous cars.

Moreover, several major automakers and technology providers are focusing on level 4 and level 5 automation and have received authorization to test driverless cars on public roads. These government initiatives and industry efforts are driving the European autonomous car manufacturing industry.