Jan. 17, 2018—Waymo, the self-driving unit under the Google umbrella, has moved past traditional auto manufacturers like Ford and Daimler to grab the No. 2 spot in Navigant Research’s annual autonomous driving scorecard.
While GM still leads that list, Waymo has gained significant ground.
Since 2015, Navigant has rated the companies working on self-driving technology in 10 different categories based on elements such as manufacturing and strategy.
This year, companies that Navigant considers industry “leaders” include: GM, Waymo, Daimler-Bosch, Ford, Volkswagen, and BMW-Intel-FCA.
The inclusion of Waymo, Intel, Aptiv, and Bosch on the upper portion of the list of leaders hints at the growing prominence of tech companies and auto suppliers in the competition to manufacture autonomous vehicles, noted The Verge.
In 2017, Waymo made multiple moves that helped it climb Navigant’s autonomous driving rankings, such as forging partnerships with companies like Fiat-Chrysler, Lyft and Avis.
What’s more, Waymo also plans to launch a completely driverless mobility service in Arizona in 2018, making it the first to completely remove human safety drivers from such autonomous vehicles.