“Our competitors no longer just make cars. Companies like Google, Apple and even Facebook are what I think about at night.”

―Akio Toyoda

While the Automotive industry is no stranger to partnerships between rivals, a recent tide of partnerships to develop Autonomous driving has been raising interest and a lot of questions regarding the fruitfulness of such "tie-ups". Major players like Daimler and BMW, VW and Ford, Renault and Fiat have already formed or are in the process of forming strategic partnerships to develop technologies in the field of “Autonomous Driving”. All these proposed ventures will shape the face of mobility in the future. It is therefore important for the parties in it to ensure that they are forming the right alliances. But how to go about finding out the secret strength that a prospective partner possesses? We believe and can demonstrate that patent analysis, using our award winning software and scientifically validated metrics, is an excellent method to scout for and investigate proposed strategic partnerships.