Google

In May 2014, Google presented a new concept for their driverless car that had neither a steering wheel nor a pedals, and unveiled a fully functioning prototype in December of that year. Google plans to make these cars available to the public in 2020.

As of August 28, 2014 the latest prototype has not been tested in heavy rain or snow due to safety concerns. Because the cars rely primarily on pre-programmed route data, they do not obey temporary traffic lights and, in some situations, revert to a slower "extra cautious" mode in complex unmapped intersections. The vehicle has difficulty identifying when objects, such as trash and light debris, are harmless, causing the vehicle to veer unnecessarily. Additionally, the lidar technology cannot spot some potholes or discern when humans, such as a police officer, are signaling the car to stop. Google projects having these issues fixed by 2020.

In 2012 Google founder Sergey Brin stated that Google Self-Driving car will be available for the general public in 2017, and in 2014 this schedule was updated by project director Chris Urmson to indicate a possible release from 2017 to 2020.

AUDI



Audi AG impressed CES 2015 attendees when its self-driving A7 car pulled up at the event. The self-driving car traveled from California to Nevada, two states that have permitted driverless car testing on its road, covering 550 miles in the said trip. The A7 was able to drive by itself below speeds of 70 miles per hour, change lanes, pass vehicles on the road, and change acceleration when needed.

Another Audi self-driving vehicle, the SQ5, made its way to the 2015 New York International Auto Show. What makes its debut impressive is that it traveled from San Francisco to Manhattan, a 3,500-mile journey, almost fully driverless. Though this feat was not entirely Audi’s own doing, as the technology used in the vehicle was supplied by Delphi Automotive PLC, it is still a step closer to bringing fully, self-driving cars closer to consumers.

BMW





Baidu – the search engine and technology company often called China’s Google –plans to release a self-driving car with BMW. The Chinese firm has been working on autonomous vehicles for the past couple of years, recently partnering with car makers including BMW. The two companies announced a self-driving research project in April 2014, driving test cars around the complex highways of Beijing and Shanghai. Wang Jin, Baidu’s senior vice president, told at the China cloud computing services summit that the company would launch a new self-driving car with BMW in China before the year is out. The prototype car will be used to test road-readiness of Baidu’s technology, which will involve the car driving itself but still have human controls.

Baidu is taking a more traditional route to the self-driving car. Its head of deep learning, Kai Yu, said last year that the technology it was developing was designed to assist drivers rather than replace them. The Chinese firm has its own data-mapping service, which is a prerequisite to any automotive robotics project, and invested $10m in a Finnish mapping startup IndoorAtlas in September last year.

Hyundai

The automaker's vision: "partially automated driving in 2015, highly automated driving in 2020 and fully automated driving in 2030."

Hyundai is investing heavily in self-driving cars and believes five-year steps will lead to fully autonomous cars appearing on our roads by 2030. The Empty Car Convoy is Hyundai Motor Company’s 1st attempt to capture and deliver the product value and philosophy through filming the actual product performance. By cleverly placing the new technologies that are added to the new Genesis 2015 version, ASCC(Advanced Smart Cruise Control), AEB(Automatic Emergency Braking System), and LKAS(Lane Keep Assist System), Hyundai wishes to deliver the message that we always provide the smartest care for customers.

Tesla





Earlier this year, the electric automaker released a limited self-driving function, which allowed Model S sedans equipped with the right hardware to detect other cars and obstacles around it and change lanes on highways. CEO Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla had another update in the pipeline. This one would allow Autopilot-equipped cars to steer themselves better on highways and parallel park on their own. Self-driving cars might be a novelty today. But in the not-too-distant future, they could become common. Eventually, autonomous cars might prove to be so much safer than human drivers that you won't even be allowed to take the wheel anymore, Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk said. Musk later clarified on Twitter that he doesn't support outlawing human-driven cars -- only that he could envision it happening in the future.

Nissan





Nissan will be ready for its self-driving vehicles to roll out as early as 2020 -- but one major roadblock is standing in the way: Regulators. Autonomous driving features will be a key part of future vehicles, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said -- however he said the company doesn't plan to create a vehicle that is entirely driverless. Nissan's autonomous technology won't be like the Google car. Instead, Ghosn said the company envisions a vehicle that assists with the driving experience, providing a 360-degree view around the vehicle to help reduce accidents.

General motors





General Motors has confirmed it will begin testing a fully autonomous fleet of Chevrolet Volts in late 2016. Making the announcement during an investors conference, GM said soon a fleet of autonomous Volts will drive within GM’s Michigan facilities and be offered to its employees to travel around the Warren Technical Centre using a new car-sharing app. All the passengers have to do is reserve a vehicle using the app and then select a destination - the range-extender hybrid will then do the rest.

The move to introduce real-world testing, albeit on private roads, will “accelerate” the development of the new technology, says engineers. Next year GM says it will introduce semi-autonomous tech on production vehicles, with the all-new Cadillac CT6 being offered with a ‘Super Cruise’ that offers hands-off lane-keeping, braking and accelerator control. The system will also work in slow traffic. The revelation that GM is rapidly develop its own self-drive tech proves it has some work to do before it catches up with some of its rivals like Audi who have already covered thousands of kms of testing on real roads.

Ford





Ford Motor Co. says it is moving closer to producing fully autonomous vehicles, vowing to bring various driver-assist technologies to its entire lineup within five years and naming a 29-year veteran to head up autonomous vehicle development.

Randy Visintainer, director of product development quality, will lead a global team focused on delivering cars that will one day drive themselves. But for now, Ford’s focus is on making more widely available certain driver-assist technologies that can help you brake in an emergency or stay between lanes, for example, or get in or out of a tight parking space.

Chrysler

First of all, it must be said that on the 5th of March 2015 at the Geneva Motor Show, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne said his company won’t rush in offering self-driving car technology before its time.

“The Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group isn’t getting carried away by hurriedly developing new technologies such as AV, also for their high costs” tweet

Volkswagen

Automated Driving Applications & Technologies for Intelligent Vehicles (AdaptIVe); a 42-month project by a consortium of 29 partners, including ten major automotive manufacturers, aimed at developing more efficient and safer autonomous systems.

The goals of AdaptIVe are to develop and test new autonomous functions for cars and trucks, investigate partially automated and highly automated driving, and study autonomous driving in cities where close-quarter driving is the norm. In addition, Volkswagen says that the project will look into the legal implications of autonomous systems for both manufacturers and drivers, with a special emphasis on liability and road laws.

"This complex field of research will not only utilize onboard sensors, but also cooperative elements such as vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication," says Professor Jürgen Leohold, Executive Director of Volkswagen Group Research. "Therefore, I am glad that most European automotive companies are cooperating in this pre-competitive field to create new solutions for automated driving."