automotive cars vehicles industry mobility autonomous shared

2020 Automotive Industry Challenges and TrendsAutomotive industry trends in 2020 are primarily dictated by the demands of anew class of consumers – sophisticated customers with a high level ofconsciousness and awareness, ever-growing needs, and environment-focusedpreferences. It makes automotive services work at full blast and addressarising challenges as quickly as possible not to lose clients.## EU Environment Regulations for Emission Reduction Dictates a New Challengefor Automotive IndustryOne of the greatest challenges the automotive industry is facing this year isworking according to the European Union Emission regulations. They wereadopted in April 2019 by the European Parliament and the Council and strive toreduce CO2 emissions from vehicles so that car-building fleets aren’t allowedto exceed the collective average of 95 grams per kilometer. In fact, passengercars and small trucks produce about 12%, resp. 2.5% of the total emissions ofgreenhouse gas (carbon dioxide) in the EU.As a result of these regulations, the automotive industry should increase thenumber of electrified vehicles (battery electric, hybrid, fuel cell, and plug-in).There are two Tesla gigafactories in the world, in the US and China. At themoment, after a ‘battle’ with environmentalists, Elon Mask’s plan to build agigafactory in Germany has been crowned with success. They were forbidden tocontinue building because of the need for cutting 92 hectares of trees. Butthen Berlin-Brandenburg court stated that they could renew clearing the forestto continue their plant-building. They’re planning to engage 12,000 employeesto produce 500,000 electric vehicles every year, starting from 150,000 cars inthe middle of the next year.“For sure. Giga Berlin will build sustainable energy vehicles usingsustainable energy, so net environmental impact will be extremely positive!” –Elon Musk tweets.Speaking of building and selling eclectic cars in China, where the number ofsold cars exceeded 50,000 last year, today’s figures are quite dismal due tothe coronavirus. According to some sources, the sales decreased by 92% thisyear, while in Europe increased significantly as compared to 2019.## What Shared Mobility Trends Are Still Relevant for the Automotive IndustryThis Year?Shared mobility is not a 2020 trend, either. But using hybrid or electricvehicles by car sharing companies is. This tendency is supported byVolkswagen, for instance, who still recognize the vehicle-on-demand potential,improving the system with zero emission mobility.Recently a Denmark car-sharing mobility company GreenMobility began operatingin Antwerp, Belgium, with 350 e-vehicles after a successful business modelimplementation in Copenhagen. Now the provider is planning to expand itsservices to Sweden throughout this year.Car-sharing fleets are still developing all over the world with some obviousleaders in the industry. For example, Yandex is sure to own the biggestvehicle-on-demand fleet having 21 thousand cars.### What Obstacles and Challenges Are There on the Way to Shared Mobility forthe Automotive Industry in 2020?First, the need to produce more electric cars because some companies which usethis type of vehicles have established a trend, so everyone else shouldcomply.Second, software and hardware engineers should do their best to improve thetechnology of shared mobility and autonomous driving to make vehicle-on-demandservices as comfortable and safe as possible. This refers to the artificialintelligence driven software that regulates the system of shared mobility byfinding cars online, providing information about the trip, routes, and trafficjams.If we speak about automated cars as part of the shared mobility system,artificial intelligence here is supposed to replace a driver’s mind and makedecisions without the human factor, thus, being able to prevent roadblocks andcollisions.## Autonomous Driving – Is It an Automotive Industry Trend or Challenge?Self-driving vehicles can’t be called a 2020 automotive industry trend becausemany world-renowned companies such as Tesla, General Motors, Google’s Waymo,Honda, and others have been implementing this idea throughout a recent coupleof years claiming that by 2020, at least 10 million autonomous vehicles willbe at your service. But still, their efforts mainly failed and today it isconsidered to be a challenge because despite a number of produced autonomouscars their testing results show their imperfection and unreadiness to go onthe roads. Experts supposed self-driving cars will free humanity from caraccidents caused by human error but though they were mistaken. According tonumerous testings, the results were unfortunate. For instance, in 2018 an Uberdriverless vehicle ran down a person in the street due to some softwareimpairments.Besides, modern self-driven vehicles can’t be called fully autonomous. This isexplained by the fact that regardless of numerous research and developments,artificial intelligence still remains insufficiently studied and developed.### Benefits and Disadvantages of Autonomous Driving for the AutomotiveIndustryObviously many people will refuse from owning their own cars and for thosewith physical disabilities unable to get a driving license it will be a greatopportunity to get a ride anytime they need.It would be also good for the environment as the number of cars will probablybe reduced and, as a result, much free space will appear as car-parking spacesin Los Angeles, for example, take even more than 17 million square meters.Apart from promising to launch 1 million driverless cars, Elon Musk alsoclaimed their owners could use them as an additional income source by havingthem as taxis when they don’t need them. According to Tesla’s inventor and co-founder, it will bring every owner $30,000 yearly. Though his plans are stilleither in his mind or in progress. Anyway, they’re not fulfilled yet.### Obstacles On the Way to the Era of Self-Driven CarsAt the moment to make driverless cars full road participants the automotiveindustry still has a lot of things to do. For instance, one of the greatchallenges is to create an appropriate infrastructure. Building smart highwaysequipped with autonomous traffic lights will help driverless vehicles avoidtraffic jams and collisions with the help of special sensors that willcommunicate corresponding data to the autopilot. And yet there are manyefforts to be dedicated to the development of AI that’s the core of theautonomous vehicles. Thus, a lot of research and testing should be conductedbefore humanity will be able to enjoy reading hot news or having a nap on thefront seat of their car while driving to the office.## Infotainment: Is It a Necessity or Redundancy for Modern AutomotiveIndustry?Today people can be hardly impressed by the vehicle’s speed, its innercharacteristics, or style. Everyone is looking for a universal mobility devicethat would go in line with modern technology. They want to simplify theirlives as much as possible, and automobile engineers are doing their best tomeet customers’ requirements.In-vehicle infotainment (IVI) is a fast-growing field in the automotiveindustry with more than a $35 billion budget allocated for 2020. IVI is acombination of hardware and software enriching vehicles with the moderntechnology of entertainment. They serve as a reliable way for drivers to beinformed about what’s important to them.In-vehicle infotainment includes among others a personal assistant, connectionwith your devices providing an opportunity for shared mobility, personalizedsettings for your better comfort, and many more. For example, vehicle-to-everything is a great way to get full information about routes, pedestrians,and all related information that could be helpful for a driver or passengers.It’s a wireless technology that connects a car with the surroundingenvironment making it possible to avoid car crashes, choose the best route,and even reduce carbon dioxide emissions.On the other hand, these technologies have brought another challenge to theindustry: hacking threats. It, in turn, requires additional workforce, time,and budget to address it.Are you ready to accept the upcoming challenges in the automotive industry?