WAYMO

• Waymo started as Google's self-driving car project in 2009. 
• The company's revenue is expected to reach $10 million by 2025. 
• Top partners of the company include Jaguar, Fiat, Honda, and Lyft.  
• Waymo has covered over 10 billion miles in simulations and more than 10 million actual road miles.
• Waymo was recently allowed by the California Public Utilities Commission to take part in the state’s Autonomous Vehicle Passenger Service pilot.
• The company is valued at over $100 billion.  

GENERAL MOTORS — CRUISE AUTOMATION

• GM acquired Cruise Automation in 2016 for $1 billion, which marked the commencement of its self-driving efforts.
• The company has a valuation of $19 billion.
• GM has an annual budget of $1 billion and $3.35 billion in cash investments.
• The company's key partner is SoftBank, which plans to invest $2.25 billion in GM'S Cruise Automation.
• GM's Cruise Automation recently postponed its launch to beyond 2019 because additional testing of the vehicles was required.

DAIMLER

• Daimler is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany and has an annual budget of $900 million. 
• Daimler recently recorded a loss of $1.74 billion in the second quarter of 2019. 
• The company's goal is to launch a passenger service solution that is shared, autonomous, and electric.
• Daimler expects large-scale commercial production to take off between 2020 and 2025. 

APTIV PLC

• Aptiv PLC is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.
• Key partners of the company include Mobileye, Renault-Nissan, BMW Group, Intel, and Lyft.  
• Aptiv introduced 30 autonomous vehicles in the Las Vegas Lyft network.
• Aptiv recorded $14.4 billion in revenue in 2018, which was a 10% increase from 2017.
• The company has been testing ride-hailing services in Singapore since 2016 and will have them operational in 2021. 

RESEARCH STRATEGY

The Netherlands

• The Netherlands was ranked first in the 2018 Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index.
• The country is known for its well-maintained road network, which was rated as being among the world’s best by the World Economic Forum and the World Bank.
• The country has the highest density of electrical vehicle charging points and comes second only to Singapore in consumer acceptance. It is the highest of the 20 in WEF’s technology readiness rating and among the highest in KPMG’s assessment of societal change readiness.
• The Netherlands was ranks the highest in regulations and government investment in AV infrastructure.
• The country has by far the highest percentage usage of electric vehicles of the 20 countries, at 6.39% in 2016, nearly double compared to the second-placed Sweden. It also has a high number of AV companies based in the country on a population-adjusted basis.

Singapore

• In the KPMG report, Singapore topped on policy, legislation and consumer acceptance pillars. It emerged second only to the Netherlands on infrastructure.
• According to the report, Singapore received the maximum score on regulation, with a 2017 amendment to its Road Traffic Act allowing self-driving vehicles to be tested on public roads, and a single entity to coordinate AV work.(Source #1, Corroborated by 2 and 3)
• The country’s strong scores for infrastructure, including a very high road and mobile network quality, are only undermined by a low density of charging stations for electric vehicles. (Source #1)
• Singapore fails to attain the top spot because of its average performance on technology and innovation. It lacks technology company headquarters, patents, and investments. It also has a low use of electric cars.

United States

• The US leads on AV innovations, ranking the first in the technology thanks to its 163-company headquarters.
• US scored the maximum or near-maximum points on industry partnerships, research and development hubs, AV technology company headquarters, investment, technology availability and capacity for innovation.
• Industry movers and shakers like Detroit, Uber and Lyft are based in the US. The country has also attracted companies from other countries like Japan’s Toyota, which has a $1 billion research hub in Michigan and a testing proving ground in California.
• The US has a good score on consumer acceptance, boosted by strong ratings from KPMG’s Change Readiness Index and the WEF. It is, however, undermined by low levels of acceptance of AV technology by consumers in addition to the fact that despite its 23 test locations being the largest number of any country, only a small proportion of Americans use them.

Sweden

• Sweden has a similar overall score as the US and ranks between second and eighth across the pillars.
• It is strongest in the technology and innovation pillar, where it has the highest per capita number of AV company headquarters, a strong showing on AV investments, and has one of the highest ratings from the WEF for availability of the latest technology.
• Although the country also has the second-highest electric car share of the 20 countries, 3.41%, it scores low on industry partnerships, R&D hubs and patents.
• On policy and legislation, Sweden has one of the highest government capability scores from KPMG’s Change Readiness Index research, but lower ratings on AV-specific areas.

United Kingdom

• UK rates in the top five for three pillars, but 10th on infrastructure. On technology and innovation, the country has good scores on industry partnerships and research and development hubs, as well as high ratings from the WEF on both technology availability and capacity for innovation, although it has fewer AV patents than other leading nations.
• It has among the highest ratings from KPMG’s Change Readiness Index and the WEF on consumer acceptance, although its ratings for the proportion of people living in test areas is lower.
• The UK is near the top in policy and legislation, with the Department for Transport having determined that it is legal for driverless cars to operate on any public roads without permits or extra insurance.
• Its rating across this pillar is lowered by fewer government-funded AV pilots and the government capability towards autonomous vehicles.