Automatic Emergency Braking Installations Take Dramatic Jump

Adoption of automatic emergency braking in U.S. vehicles has grown rapidly since automakers promised in March 2016 to make this feature standard by 2022.

Amy Alexander, Data Analyst

January 22, 2018

4 Min Read
Automatic Emergency Braking Installations Take Dramatic Jump

New-vehicle technology often isn’t really new, but an improvement on concepts seen long ago.

The idea of a rearview camera, for example, first came along in 1956 on a Buick concept car, but it wasn’t until 2002 that Infiniti actually introduced the technology on one of its models. Since then, the device has become ubiquitous.

An exclusive Wards Intelligence survey of ADAS features installed in ’17-model domestic and import light vehicles shows 91.6% of all light vehicles had rearview cameras, up dramatically from just 22% in 2012. The rapid ramp-up comes as no surprise, driven by federal regulations that require all automobiles produced after May 2018 to have rearview cameras as standard equipment.

Similarly, head-up displays, originally designed for the military dating as far back as the 1940s, are coming back with 3.8% of light vehicles now having this feature available, a majority in the luxury segments. BMW has the highest installation rate of 45.5%, with Jaguar Land Rover a close second at 39.5%.

Blindspot alert has now been offered for several years, initially introduced by Volvo in 2007, and has increased from an estimated 9.8% in ʼ13 to 38.9% in ʼ17. The Lower Small Car segment, including models such as the Chevy Sonic and Spark, trails the industry overall with only 10.2% penetration. That is actually up from ʼ14 when no vehicles in this segment group offered that feature.

Adoption of automatic emergency braking in U.S. vehicles has grown rapidly since automakers promised in March 2016 to make this feature standard by 2022, hitting 27.0% in ’17, up from 12.0% for the ‘16 model year and 6.2% in ʼ15.

That gain is due primarily to Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, two automakers that offer this feature as standard across much of their model lineups. Wards Intelligence estimates 91.6% of Mercedes production has this feature available. Toyota sits at 59.0% adoption with the feature being standard on models such as Avalon, Camry, Highlander and RAV4, up from only 11.0% in ’16. Nissan announced earlier in the year it is making AEB standard on 1 million vehicles in the U.S. for model-year ’18. Included on the list is the Rogue/Sport, Altima and Murano. The AEB adoption rate will skyrocket over the next few years as 2022 approaches.

The first step in this process, a less-expensive alternative, is collision warning that alerts the driver to take action but doesn’t necessarily slow the vehicle automatically. This feature was estimated at 12.9% in ’15, up to 17.7% in ’16 and hitting 30.5% in ’17, growing quickly with its AEB counterpart.

Adaptive cruise control, introduced in the U.S. for the first time in late 2000, typically uses the same technology as that of collision warning and AEB, but that does not imply that if a vehicle has one then it has the other. Although having been around for more than a decade, ACC penetration was at only 4.4% in 2013, Wards Intelligence estimates. With the rapid growth of AEB, ACC grew to 21.5% for the ’17 model year.

While ACC scans the front of the vehicle, lane-departure warning and lane-keep assist focus on the sides. First introduced in Japan in 1992 on the Mitsubishi Debonair and then in the U.S. in 2005 on the Infiniti FX, lane-departure warning lets the driver know if the vehicle is drifting from its lane by sounding a simple chime, flashing a symbol in the instrumentation or vibrating the seat or steering wheel. Estimated at only 6.1% in ’13, this feature grew to 28.0% in ’17. Lane-keep assist, a steering wheel correction that maintains the vehicle in its path, sits at 21.2%, up from a mere 2.7% just two years earlier.

The survey also points out the quick adoption of one of the newest media technologies, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Released in 2014, CarPlay has grown to 35.3% penetration in ’17 with Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda and Toyota as the only manufacturers with no availability. Commonly grouped together, Android Auto, released in 2015 on the Hyundai Sonata, hit a 34.7% adoption rate in ’17.

Most of these new features on the rise are improved, advanced technologies, but not brand new at all. Many of these concepts were introduced earlier, but high costs and performance limitations either caused them to fade quickly in the market or first grow slowly in luxury brands. As the technology improves and costs come down, adoption becomes more widespread.

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