Subaru weighs Sweden’s Autoliv as camera supplier

Bloomberg

Subaru Corp. is considering Autoliv Inc.’s stereo cameras for its driver-assist system as the Japanese automaker looks for options beyond a Hitachi Ltd. unit that has been a supplier for almost a decade, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The company is evaluating both the suppliers’ prototypes for its EyeSight system when another upgrade is planned in 2020 and a decision may be made as soon as the next two months, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the matter is confidential. Since its introduction in May 2008, Subaru’s EyeSight system has won the highest safety ratings in Japan and the US.
If Subaru chooses Autoliv, the deal would be the first for the Swedish maker in the vision component segment in Japan. It could thwart Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd.’s ambition of targeting a 10 percent share of the information and safety market, which the Tokyo-based supplier predicts will be worth more than 3 trillion yen ($27 billion) by 2020. Global automakers are developing sensing technologies using cameras, radar and lidar to improve safety of self-driving cars under development.
Representatives for Subaru, Hitachi Automotive and Autoliv declined to comment on the companies’ future business. Hitachi fell 1.9 percent in Tokyo, the most in almost two months. Subaru dropped 2.1 percent, versus a 1.3 percent drop in the benchmark Nikkei 225 index. Autoliv declined 0.3 percent to 907.50 kronor in Stockholm after jumping as much as 1.9 percent earlier.
EyeSight is the first driver-assist system to use only stereo cameras to detect objects such as vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, Subaru said. The carmaker plans to update EyeSight with the functionality of autonomously following a car on congested highways this year, and plans to add fully autonomous highway driving.