Forget EVs autonomous vehicles are the big race for carmakers in coming years, says JPMorgan

Electric vehicles are no longer the main way to compare carmakers, with self-driving cars now the main race over the coming years, according to JPMorgan. The investment bank reckons Daimler (ETR:DAI), Stellantis NV (NYSE:STLA, EPA:STLA), Renault and Volkswagen Group (XETRA:VOW) "will benefit the most from this trend" and they are its key picks among the traditional automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), a group that also includes BMW, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Hyundai and Kia. "Electrification is no longer a differentiating factor amongst OEMs, in our view," the US investment bank said. "Rather, cash generation and the race into autonomous driving will be over the coming years," JPM said in a note to clients on Monday. Looking at the auto market in the past year, the analysts said it was becoming "increasingly evident" that the traditional OEMs are using their strong free cash flow to "speed their way into electrification and autonomous driving to compete against new start-ups".