Speaking at the 14th Stuttgart International Symposium, Dr Volkmar Denner, the chairman of the Bosch board of management, highlighted the benefits of automated driving, and set out the challenges that still need to be solved.

‘The prospect of saving 1.2 million lives is a great source of motivation,’ Dr Denner said, in reference to the estimated number of road traffic deaths around the world each year. In Germany, almost 90% of all traffic accidents are caused by drivers. However, automated driving is also economical, whilst Dr Denner added: ‘Automated driving also keeps senior citizens mobile, and thus makes a contribution to social well-being.’

According to Bosch, automated driving will come gradually.

‘By 2020 at the latest, the technologies required for highly-automated driving will reach maturity. In the decade that follows, we expect to see fully-automated driving,’ Dr Denner said, whilst Bosch added that automated parking will come even sooner.

However, in the coming years, Bosch engineers still have a broad range of tasks ahead of them, as automated driving has an impact on all vehicle systems.

‘Only automakers and suppliers with broad systems expertise will succeed,’ Dr Denner said.

The Bosch CEO summarised the five main development priorities as follows:

‘The automotive industry needs clear, consistent data-protection and data-security regulations,’ Dr Denner said.

‘Authorisation regimes and questions related to product liability are currently the subject of intense debate among associations, governments, and insurance companies,’ Dr Denner said.

Bosch also said that vehicle connectivity will also give rise to new services, for instance when data is exchanged with monitoring centres, insurance companies, or fleet operators. The Bosch Communication Center business unit’s eCall solutions already feature in a number of automakers models. And with LeasePlan, Bosch Software Innovations, a Bosch subsidiary, is planning an entirely new fleet management concept.

‘In the future, connected features will be a fundamental part of the vehicle architecture, and they will make driving more comfortable, more efficient, and safer,’ Dr Denner said.