Baidu steps up its autonomous driving ambitions

Current automotive megatrends have allowed China to gain significant ground on the traditional leading markets of Europe and North America, and on some fronts, become a segment leader. Electrification is the most prominent example, with data from the International Energy Agency showing that China sold 1.06 million electric vehicles (EVs) in 2019, compared to 560,000 and 326,000 in Europe and the US respectively. Autonomy is another trend China plans to lead, and its market is firmly dominated by domestic technology giants.