Absolutely. Big autos have huge engineering know-hows as well as resources to poach talent. One thing that may work for in favor of Tesla though, is the fact

Absolutely. Big autos have huge engineering know-hows as well as resources to poach talent. One thing that may work for in favor of Tesla though, is the fact that self-driving car will fundamentally shift people's relationship with cars. Out goes the needs to have best-handling, best crash protection, best-feedback providing cars. Value of those engineering know-hows will be greatly diminished because computers will be doing the driving. Instead, there will be more emphasis on comfort, software, and efficiency.