Is Sensor technology the future of automotive industry?

Technology is ever evolving, and in not so distant future it will revolutionise the automotive industry. There is a considerable measure of potential for business development in this sector. Tech giants like Google and Apple sensed this opportunity and began moving in on the auto business dealing with driverless technology and electric vehicles. Elon Musk already proved it is not that difficult like it used to be before, for organisations in different domains to enter automotive industry.

They are incredibly serious. What's more, I think their interest is exactly what this industry is needed. We needed a disruptive interloper to shake things up" - Sergio Marchionne (CEO of Fiat Chrysler )

Mercedes unveiled its completely self-driving ‘F 015 Luxury in Motion’ concept car at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year.

Anyone who focuses solely on the technology has not yet grasped how autonomous driving will change our society " - Dieter Zetsche (Chairman of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz)

But it’s gonna take some time for autonomous cars to hit the roads. Google is planning to launch its first product in 5 years and Apple is pushing its team to start car production by 2020. Apple made $18billion in profits last quarter and with the kind of technology and innovation these two companies hold they can come out as strong competition.

This transformative automobile technology will be a game-changer for other industries as well, from software makers to suppliers of entertainment, especially the automotive sensor industry. Ford introduced a car with new sensor technology, which can detect and read the speed limit signs on roads and adjust the speed accordingly. Ford believes this ‘Intelligent Speed Limiter’ technology which uses sensors placed in car’s wheels to detect the speed and a sensor in camera to read the signs, could make people avoid speed tickets and reduce the number of accidents. Even Hyundai is using sensor technology for advanced safety. With an aim to outpace the opponents, they are speeding up the designation of low-cost advanced safety systems and new autonomous driving features in their vehicles by 2020. This year, they are planning to introduce a new lane-keeping cruise control for use at high speeds in high-end vehicles. They are also developing a new traffic jam assist technology, that controls acceleration, braking and steering of vehicle, which uses a laser scanner and a camera to detect the car ahead.

The goal is to implement autonomous driving technologies into our cars to keep customers safe. Safety is the biggest issue – Kim Dae Sung (director of Hyundai's Automotive Control Systems Development Group)

With increasingly elegant sensors and cameras making their way into auto motives, and with every company aiming to develop autonomous cars for advanced safety and control using sensor technology, the automotive sensor market is going to experience radical growth in coming years. Numerous innovations like pedestrian detection, emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping systems are going to make their way into this market.

The Global Automotive Sensor market is estimated to grow from $21.17 billion in 2014 to $49.48 billion by 2019, at a projected CAGR of 15.12%. The explosion of advanced electronic control systems has made sensors more accurate and dependable with quick response times while increasing the robustness, communications capabilities and efficiency. The continuous innovations and investments in research and development to meet the changing consumer preferences has led to improved fabrication techniques and enhanced sensing abilities at lower costs, driving market growth.

SaiKiran Kadam is an Analyst working with Mordor Intelligence, a market research consulting firm which specializes in Market Research Consulting, Market Research Reports, Market Sizing Reports, Industry Research Reports.