Ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China have already impacted smartphone and 5G technology and according to CNBC, autonomous and connected cars could be next.
There’s little doubt that in the decades to come, the car will become the largest and perhaps most important connected device that people own. Such vehicles will be loaded with chips and sensors and run on digital platforms to not only make vehicles of the future more advanced but also much safer. The trade war could impact this.
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Following the decision from the Trump administration to lock Huawei smartphones out of the country and the ongoing battleground in the world of 5G technologies, it’s not inconceivable that certain phones won’t work with certain vehicles and that select cars may be unable to connect to Chinese or U.S. 5G infrastructure, for example.
A recent study from IBM concluded that 15 per cent of new cars could be fully autonomous by the end of next decade and as self-driving cars become more prevalent, car manufacturers and technology companies will turn their attention towards innovative new digital in-car experiences.
It remains to be seen if these fears will actually eventuate and if tensions between countries could impact how cars interact with each other and the world around them. Nonetheless, these are very real concerns that car manufacturers and regulators will inevitably have to discuss moving forward.