Aug 21, 2025Laurenz Hinterholzer

Is Google Taking Over the Automotive Industry?

We are often asked how our app for driving style and vehicle analysis will still be useful in a future with autonomous vehicles. The first reaction seems obvious: if it’s no longer humans driving but AI, then there’s no need for driving style analysis. But on closer inspection, the answer is more complex.

To get a better sense of the future of mobility, I read two books during my vacation:

Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car – And How It Will Reshape Our World by Lawrence D. Burns and Christopher Shulgan
Mobility 3.0: How to Win and Thrive in the Future of Passenger Transportation by Leonardo Gannio

While Mobility 3.0 focuses more on the economic aspects, it was Autonomy that gave me the decisive insights—especially into the role of Google and Waymo.

From Desert Race to Robotaxi

Waymo’s origins lie in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. In California’s Mojave Desert, participants had to cover a 240-kilometer course, but none made it beyond twelve kilometers. Two years later, at the DARPA Urban Challenge, the first vehicles were already driving autonomously in a simulated urban environment.

In 2018, Waymo launched the first commercial robotaxi service. Today, autonomous taxis are already operating in several cities—by Waymo, Cruise, or Tesla in the U.S., and in Germany through pilot projects in Hamburg and Munich. However, these are still limited pilots within well-defined areas.

Google’s Approach: Safety Before Speed

Larry Page recognized the potential of autonomous driving early on, and today’s CEO Sundar Pichai continues to push the field forward. Google’s strategy clearly differs from Tesla’s:

Technology: Waymo relies on lidar (laser sensing) combined with cameras, while Tesla pursues a camera-only approach.
Go-to-Market: Google prioritizes safety and runs extensive testing before releasing new features. Tesla, by contrast, takes a bolder approach and brings its Autopilot onto the roads early.

That the risks are real has been shown by accidents involving Tesla and Uber. Semi-autonomous systems that keep drivers in constant high alert are a questionable concept. Autonomy only makes sense if it is fully reliable.

10–15 Years to Level 5

It will likely take another 10 to 15 years before Level 5 vehicles—fully autonomous, without any human intervention—become part of everyday life. Studies (e.g., by McKinsey and BCG) suggest that even by 2035, more than 70% of all vehicles will not yet be fully autonomous.

Autonomy will first gain traction in niches: robotaxis, shuttle services, clearly defined routes. For companies and private customers in everyday life, full autonomy remains a vision for the distant future.

Alphabet in the Car: Waymo + Android

Beyond Waymo, Google has built a second pillar in the automotive industry: Android Auto and Android Automotive OS.

Android Auto is now compatible with more than 250 million vehicles.
Android Automotive OS already runs in over 50 models—and growing rapidly.

This means Google controls both the digital access point inside the car and the development of autonomous driving. Compared to other tech giants, Alphabet is already the most visible player in the automotive segment today.

What Does This Mean for Driving Style Analysis?

Even if AVs take over driving, driving style analysis remains relevant.

First, because the transition period will be very long—over the next 10–15 years, vehicles with human drivers will still dominate.
Second, because even in an autonomous future, there will be scenarios where users have influence: for example, choosing the driving mode (economical, sporty, comfortable). For this, metrics, scores, and analysis will still be needed.

Conclusion

Google doesn’t build its own cars. But with Waymo and Android Automotive OS, Alphabet has two levers that together could be more impactful than some OEMs: an operating system for mobility.

For OEMs, the future will be less about developing every function themselves. More likely, they will increasingly collaborate with Google to save costs and focus on their core competence: hardware.

The exciting question: In 10 years, will Alphabet have more influence on the automotive industry than traditional manufacturers?