Mobileye: China's new driver-assistance rules will boost sales "exponentially"
Mobileye, the company that already supplies collision-avoidance technology for Tesla, Nissan and GM, expects its sales in China to grow "exponentially," thanks to new government regulations, Reuters reports.
As early as Tuesday, the Chinese government could announce new rules requiring basic autonomous driving functions in large commercial vehicles, sales director David Oberman reportedly said in Beijing.
"Very soon, China will follow the example of the European Union, Israel, Singapore and other countries and will make laws to make it mandatory to install such systems in buses and trucks," he said.
Mobileye's real-time, vision-based collision avoidance camera systems have gained it a sure foothold in the U.S. and European automotive markets. Its partnerships with major car makers makes it a major competitor against Google's autonomous vehicle project. Just last week, Mobileye Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Amnon Shashua told the Wall Street Journal that Volkswagen, BMW and GM are among five auto makers slated to purchase a system in 2018 that will allow cars to drive autonomously on the highway. By 2019, Shashua said, two unnamed auto makers will be working with Mobileye to sell fully autonomous cars.
Chinese automakers, however, have been slower to adopt Mobileye's technology. The company recently inked deals with three major Chinese suppliers, Reuters noted.
"Even though the Chinese automakers woke up a little late (to automated driving technology), now they are charging forward very, very ferociously and I believe they will catch up and pass the rest of the world very soon," Oberman said.