With the second day of Automotive Megatrends India 2015 under way, the opening panel discussion set the stage for insights into India’s passenger car market. Among other megatrends governing domestic movements, it was not long until the subject of autonomous driving cropped up.
With OEMs present in India already implementing autonomous driving technologies across cars in Europe and the US, a number of experts discussed the viability of transferring such technologies across to the Indian market.
Infrastructure not ready
Tom von Bonsdorff, Managing Director of Volvo Cars India, has concerns about the ability of Indian infrastructure to cater for driverless vehicles. Speaking at the event, he remarked: “I don’t think India’s infrastructure is ready for autonomous driving as it cannot manage those kind of vehicles.”
Speaking to Automotive World, he added: “Radar systems will slowly enable autonomous driving, but traffic solutions and infrastructure are not ready yet. In some of the most congested areas of Mumbai or other big cities, I do not see it as being possible.”
However, recent changes to national legislation potentially marks a turning point for autonomous driving in the country. Frequencies in radar-based sensors – which enable the car to monitor its surroundings – were previously prohibited by the Indian government. Such bans were recently lifted for low-frequency radars. “We can now introduce these features into our cars,” said Bonsdorff. “Up until now they have been disabled, so it is a huge benefit for Volvo and other manufacturers with those features.”
He added: “We are slightly behind developed markets with regards to radar systems in India, but development will be faster here. Of course, autonomous driving will get there; it just requires a holistic approach from consumers, legislation, OEMs and infrastructure.”
Joy Rajan Cheruvathoor, SVP – Strategic Alliances & M2M, Vodafone, shares a similar view. “An autonomous car is quite a distance away, given the fact that lanes are not marked,” he told Automotive World. Péter Rimár, Regional Sales Manager, Eastern Europe and Emerging Markets, NNG, added: “It is difficult to gauge, as we – as a navigation company – do not have an impact on the quality of roads and driver behaviour.”
Phillip von Sahr President, BMW Group India, is sceptical about the potential for autonomous driving in India due to current consumer demands. “At the moment, it is tricky to think about how driverless cars in India would work,” he said, “but this is because we are still in a growth phase; people just want a good car that works and is reliable.”
“Autonomous driving will get there; it just requires a holistic approach from consumers, legislation, OEMs and infrastructure” – Tom von Bonsdorff, Managing Director of Volvo Cars India
Arun Malhotra, Managing Director of Nissan Motor India, expressed a more positive view. “We are already working on the connected car, and autonomous driving will probably come earlier than you think,” he remarked. Backing up a view that would appear to go against the grain, Malhotra pointed out that demand for connectivity in India will help to support autonomous driving in future. “Even in smaller cars, what has been demanded by consumers and provided by OEMs in terms of infotainment and GPS is unbelievable,” he pointed out.
Others are not as confident in the country’s developments in connectivity, and in particular, the introduction of 5G. Following on from 4G, this technology is expected to be an enabler of driverless cars as it creates a seamless and continuous connection to the Internet. Amit Jain, Country Head, Electronics Group, India at Visteon told Automotive World: “Maybe in 20 years we can talk about 5G, because it is only really important for autonomous cars, and we do not see that happening any time soon in India.”
The overall sentiment from suppliers and OEMs at the event is that autonomous driving is an attractive prospect, but a challenging and most likely far-off reality for India.
Freddie Holmes
