Ford and Toyota Catch Up To Tech Giants To Develop Self-Driving Technology!

According to new patent data, best-in-class car makers; Ford Motor and Toyota Motor are catching up with tech giants in the industry to produce self-driving technology. According to a list of most competitive firms compiled by Asia Nikkei, as well as a patents survey that was managed by Patent Result Co., Ford and Toyota both topped the list. 

The companies were followed by Waymo which is an autonomous car company called Alphabet (Google’s parent company). 

On top of that, making it to the top 50 on the list were 12 Japanese companies such as Sony, Toyota, Honda Motor, as well as Nissan Motor. 

Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei has commissioned a survey that analysed the competitiveness of a patent - Patent result. It records the number of times a patent was cited in reports by an international organisation, and the number of times it was challenged by other companies, as well as the number of appeals filed in relation to it. Based on the scores, Nikkei compiled the list that shows which company is more competitive.

Coming out on top was Ford at a score of 6,054 with 1,195 patents, followed by Toyota with a score of 5,349 with 1,705 patents, and Waymo at a score of 4,895 with 582 patents.

In comparison to the previous surveys, Ford had an increase in score by 260 percent, Toyota increased by 140 percent, and Waymo increased by 70 percent. Not only that, both Ford and Toyota have 2.5 times more patents today as compared to then. Waymo’s number of patents also made an increase of 80 percent.

In the aspect of drivetrain technology, coming out on top was Toyota with 3,467 points, followed by Ford at 3,137 points and Waymo at 2,486 points.

As for autonomous parking technology, Ford scored 1,115 points which were three times higher than Toyota and five times higher than Waymo. 

Ford topped this category due to its advantage of Quantum Signal AI which is a brand that in 2019, focused on mobile robotics, modelling, as well as simulation.

Meanwhile, coming in 5th with its competitive sensor technology was Non-Life insurance provider State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance. 

In addition to that, the company’s sensor-related patents were also cited 2,552 times by patented autonomous driving technology inventors. 

Previously, only Hyundai Motor represented South Korean companies in the top 50 list. However, now five South Korean companies and two Chinese companies have made it on the list. Following that, China’s largest internet search engine, Baidu came in at 23rd and a multinational electric vehicle manufacturer in Shanghai came in at number 35th. 

Sadly, many companies also dropped out. Among those companies are Uber Technologies that sold Uber Advanced Technologies Group to a self-driving startup company called Aurora Innovation. The sale took place in January this year. 

Also not forgetting the sale of Lyft’s autonomous vehicle division to Toyota that took place at the end of April.