Seeing Machines takes gold with new world record

Seeing Machines has proved to the world that it is the leading company in DMS, with its latest set of KPIs taking it past the 2.2m level for cars on the road an increase of 104% year-on-year. It seems set to pass the 3m level, as predicted here a few months ago.

Guardian sales for Aftermarket were also solid: monitored connections rose 19% over the past 12 months to 62k despite the Gen 2 box approaching end of production.

Peter McNally, analyst at house broker Stifel commented: ā€œSeeing Machines seems strategically well positioned for continued market leadership with Tier 1 automotive suppliers Valeo and Magna as partners, rising adoption, a recently homologated Gen 3 aftermarket product and a healthy balance sheet as it heads toward a monthly cash break even run-rate in FY25E.ā€ 

Paul McGlone, CEO of Seeing Machines, said: “We have maintained growth of over 100% in the number of cars on road featuring our technology from 12 months ago, despite the quarter-on-quarter volatility experienced during the year. Regulations are now in place so we are confident that these figures will continue to grow for existing Automotive programs and as new programs start production.

“Similarly in Aftermarket, the new regulation in Europe will require more commercial vehicle OEMs to seek After Manufacture fitment for our Guardian technology, underpinned by successful homologation (regulatory approval) with our Northern Ireland customer, Wrightbus, as announced on 30 July 2024. With Guardian Generation 2 stock sold we are now focused on Guardian Generation 3, initially with European commercial vehicle OEMs, then all customers across existing markets in Europe, The Americas and Asia Pacific.”

Unassailable lead

Seeing Machines has now surpassed Smart Eye and there appears to be no way its Swedish rival can catch up in the short term.

Peter McNally, gave a useful summary of where we stand now:

ā€œCars on the road is proof of engineering execution: Although its competitor Smart Eye was the first to break the 1 million cars on the road threshold in June 2022, it was still “not quite 2 million” in May 2024 (Smart Eye report Q224 on Aug 21st). Seeing Machines reached 1 million in June 2023 and has been the first to announce 2 million. Seeing Machines has 7 Automotive programs currently in production and we believe most of these are still ramping given it takes roughly 18 months to reach full production. The company has a total of 17 programmes signed worth $392m with many more likely to be added in the future given increasing regulatory drivers and evidence of execution.ā€

Were there a DMS Olympics Seeing Machines would take gold, with Smart Eye in second place. As for Bronze, I’d hoped to award it to Cipia. However, I wonder if Cipia may be hampered by the likely fallout from Israel’s escalating Israel war in the Middle East.

The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines

Tactical move widens Seeing Machines’ moat

I think the Devant collaboration announced on the 20th June is a tactical move to widen Seeing Machines’ (AIM: SEE) moat. The data derived from real-life driver experience, known as its ‘river of gold’ has hitherto protected its AI-fuelled technological lead. Now it will be augmented by a sea of computer-generated edge cases from Devant, a specialist in synthetic data generation who is focused on the niche area of in-cabin monitoring. 

This should help Seeing Machines speed up the development of DMS and future in-cabin monitoring applications that are being demanded by the industry and regulators, putting Seeing Machines even further ahead of its competitors.

Far from an admission of weakness, this move demonstrates that Seeing Machines is doing all it can to maintain its leadership position — without breaking the bank. I don’t envisage any competitor overtaking SEE within the next 3 years. Indeed, part of me wonders if we might not end up acquiring Smart Eye or Cipia eventually. However, I’m betting Seeing Machines gets acquired within 2 years.

Auto RFQ delays 

I appreciate the lack of auto OEM contract wins being announced has rattled many of us. I think it is entirely down to OEMs waiting until the last possible moment to decide how sophisticated a DMS/OMS to use, in the light of tighter EuroNCAP regulations that are coming into force in 2026 but which still haven’t been totally tied down.

This has been confirmed to me following conversations with people at EuroNCAP — sadly, I find myself curiously unable to obtain basic information from official SEE channels following scoops that have upset some people. (But, like a would-be lover suffering from unrequited love, I am still fully invested in this brilliant company).

Q&A Euro NCAP

Here’s a brief Q&A with Euro NCAP:

I understand that the EuroNCAP 2025 protocols aren’t yet out. Can you tell me:

Q. When do you expect them to be published? 

A.  2026.

Q. What exactly is the process for their iteration and publication? Is a draft put around to the industry players for comment? If so, at what stage are they currently?

A. Currently under development, discussing the new requirements and test provisions alongside industry. 

Q. Have they been delayed, if so why?

A. Initially considered for 2025, we finally decided to switch to a 3-year cycle, so starting their implementation from 2026. This was to allow sufficient development timing for protocol development and giving industry sufficient headroom for technology adoption.

Q. What provisions regarding driver monitoring are they likely to include and how advanced are they likely to be? (I know there is a roadmap but I’m not sure about the precise details of it and how it applies to driver monitoring).

A.

  • Driving under influence (2026)
  • Optimised passive restraint systems based on occupant posture and/or size (2026)
  • Increased requirements for the precision of determination on non-reversible driver states e.g., drowsiness, unresponsive driver / sudden sickness (2026)
  • Specific provisions for Assisted and automated driving (2026)
  • Link of driver state to the way ADAS functions are tested and assessed e.g., FCW/LDW sensitivity (2026)
  • Cognitive distraction / mind wandering (2029/2032)

The writer holds stock in SEE.