There are certainly multiple reasons for it: - Commoditize the stuff you don't want to compete on. I don't think German companies want to compete on self drivi

There are certainly multiple reasons for it: - Commoditize the stuff you don't want to compete on. I don't think German companies want to compete on self driving - they are positioning their product as a premium product and thus compete on performance, quality and emotions. - Have a common interface to the outside - there is more to self driving than sensors and software: Legal framework, insurance market, road standards, parking standards, home garage standards, refueling standards. These external partners need to change and if too many competing priorities and possibly contradictory demands are coming nothing will change. Self driving is certainly harder than it looks. If your market is the world and not just the relatively empty and wide grid streets in the US things are even more complex. I'm sure there is some fear of losing out. More however I think about the limited upside: The cost for developing self driving vs the later ability to charge for it is very limited from a car manufacturers POV: Sensor's are bought in and software is either bought or very expensive to develop and run. Differentiation is minimal: Either considered safe or can't be sold. Self driving here has different economics from EV.