According to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com), Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and BMW continue to comprise the top three players in the consumer Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) market. They outperform competitors either in terms of the degree and significance of their innovation, or in how effectively they make their systems available to consumers – sometimes in both, according to the research group.

As mass-market OEMs [original equipment manufactureres] have strived to offer affordable ADAS solutions to their customers, luxury brands have sought to distinguish themselves either by increasing the sophistication of their systems, or by offering their systems across more of their model range. Most have adopted a combination of these approaches.

Western Europe maintains its position as the largest market for ADAS, due in no small part to the inclusion of such systems as criteria in Euro NCAP ratings. Thus, OEMs whose sales are strong in this region demonstrate the largest market share. Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and BMW are estimated by ABI Research to account for over 50% of consumer vehicles sold with at least one ADAS in Western Europe during 2014.

"ABI Research’s most recent competitive assessment into the ADAS market returns the same top three vendors as previous iterations. However, this is by no means indicative of stagnation," says analyst James Hodgson. "Luxury brands are trending towards the approach of improving sensor fusion and syncing separate ADASs in order to deliver an almost semi-autonomous driving experience. Mass-market OEMs, however, are becoming increasingly divergent. Some seem to favor the approach of reserving relatively sophisticated active safety/comfort systems for their flagship model(s), while others prefer to exploit advances in machine vision technology to offer central ADAS features at low cost on more of their vehicles.”