JLR, Ford Test Connected Cars in United Kingdom

Indian-owned Jaguar-Land Rover and the UK base for Ford are testing connected cars in the country for the first time.

The new partnership, between the formally owned Ford companies and Ford itself, is working together to develop the new software so a new industry standard can be achieved by manufacturers.

The test trials use cars that can warn drivers when another connected vehicle brakes ahead of the self-driving car. The software can also observe traffic signal and control car speed to encounter fewer red lights, Auto News reported.

Ever more smart technologies related to self-driving vehicles are being developed by all the main vehicle manufacturers, fearing they could fall behind companies like Tesla and Uber that are leading the battle to a safer autonomous future.

“The benefits of having cars that can communicate with each other and their surroundings could be very significant–from increased road safety to improved traffic flow,” said Tim Armitage, a project director at government-backed UK Autodrive that coordinated the trials at a testing ground in central England.

The future autonomous driving industry is expected to be worth $1.1 billion in the next few years, according to some general estimates.

JLR previously announced that it intended to create a fleet of 100 research vehicles over the next half decade to push ahead with plans to build a luxury fleet of self-driving cars.