The field of autonomous driving has become a new arena for competition. How can traditional auto parts giants let it go?

On April 19, Denso announced that it would join hands with Toyota and SoftBank Vision Fund to invest $1 billion in Uber's autonomous driving technology department (ATG) to accelerate the development and implementation of autonomous shared cars. Of the total investment, Denso and Toyota will invest $667 million, and the remaining $333 million will come from SVF. With the completion of the investment, the valuation of the autonomous driving technology department will reach $7.25 billion.

8) Toyota Electric and its joint venture to manufacture chips

Toyota and Denso announced on July 10, 2019 that they have reached an agreement to establish a joint venture dedicated to the development of semiconductor chips for next-generation vehicles as the current automotive industry moves towards connected cars and self-driving cars.

9) Denso invests in startups' edge processing units

Denso has acquired a stake in quadric.io, a startup based in Burlingame, California. Denso intends to further develop quadric.io's edge processing units (EPUs), high-performance semiconductors that serve as the basis for autonomous driving technology. Denso purchased the stake through NSITEXE, one of its group companies.

summary

In the field of autonomous driving, Denso has been making frequent moves. In addition to the above actions, on December 27, 2018, Denso announced that it would adjust its corporate structure in order to rapidly transform, and the adjusted structure will be implemented from January 1, 2019. Denso reorganized the Mobility Systems Function Unit and established the Mobility Systems Planning Div. (responsible for business strategy) and the Mobility Systems R&D Div. (responsible for technology research and development) to accelerate the development of autonomous driving and connected driving.

In 2019, in the field of autonomous driving, many companies have risen up, and each company is accelerating its layout and advancement, and the market penetration rate has increased significantly. The field of autonomous driving is in a rapid development stage, and it will take a long marathon to finally achieve profitability in autonomous driving. Slow does not necessarily mean "falling behind", and fast does not necessarily mean "leading". Will Denso be the final winner?