ADAS Automotive Technology Sales Expected to Gain 60% in 2011

Government's regulations on driver and car safety promote market growth According to IHS iSuppli's automotive research report, the sales of the global advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) market will increase this year under the strong promotion of national government car safety regulations. Nearly 60%.

In 2011, revenues from the three ADAS technologies, such as adaptive cruise control (ACC), lane departure warning (LDW), and side object detection (SOD), will total US$1.65 billion, up from US$1.05 billion in 2010. Increased by 57%. The growth momentum will be even stronger next year, the growth rate will increase to 63%, and the total operating income will increase to 2.69 billion US dollars.

By 2015, the ADAS market composed of these three technologies will reach US$6.21 billion, as shown in Figure 3. This forecast does not include potential operating revenues from many other developing ADAS technologies, such as parking assistance systems, night vision and motorist monitoring technologies, which are all in different deployment phases. IHS believes that these technologies may significantly increase the operating revenue of the overall ADAS market in the coming years.

ADAS is a sensor-based system and technology that can detect light, heat, pressure, or other variables used to monitor vehicle conditions. In turn, sensors provide advice to motorists to attract attention and improve safety. These sensors are in the form of cameras, radars, lasers, and ultrasonics. They can be deployed in any position on the car, including front and rear bumpers, side mirrors, inside the steering column, or windshield. Some sensors can be seen by motorists, but most are embedded in cars and their systems.

Governments and motorists all recognize that the frequency and severity of automobile accidents must be reduced, and thus the demand for the ADAS market is increasing. In 2010, the U.S. police reported about 5.5 million traffic accidents, of which more than 33,000 died and 2.2 million were injured. Since ADAS applications can reduce the frequency of most types of accidents, governments around the world require the installation of certain validated ADAS technologies as a standard feature in automobiles to protect motorists, passengers, pedestrians, and other road users.

For example, within a few months, all cars in the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, and South Korea will have electronic stability control systems installed to minimize car slippage. At the same time, the United States has required the installation of pressure monitoring systems, and other markets such as South Korea and Europe will soon adopt the same measures. The governments of various countries are still evaluating new technologies with potential, focusing on prevention and improving road safety.

ADAS technology enhances safety through special actions Actions that ADAS technology can take include passive alerts or copying information to alert motorists to unusual vehicle or road conditions. However, active interventions are also common for the latest generation of ADAS equipment.

The currently widely used ADAS technology is adaptive cruise control. A laser or radar system is used to detect whether there is a vehicle and its speed in front, and the original basic cruise control function is extended. If the ACC finds a vehicle ahead and is slow, the system adjusts the speed to maintain a safe distance.

As a platform, ACC has great long-term potential. It can handle many types of accidents by adding crash warnings, slowing forces, and evading applications. It is estimated that the revenue of the ACC market in 2011 will increase from US$701 million in 2010 to US$992 million, and it will reach US$1.57 billion next year.