Alliance Entry Decision of Autonomous Vehicle Manufacturers from a Cost Perspective

The rapid development of autonomous driving technology has promoted the rise of cross-industry innovation alliances. From the perspective of cost, this study discusses the decision-making problem of autonomous driving manufacturers participating in the alliance under the static, single-period market and acquisition and sales mode. We construct a game theory model and compare two scenarios : independent operation and participation in the alliance. Enterprise costs include manufacturing, battery and software / hardware expenses, while consumer costs include variable energy costs and fixed costs, which are embedded in the utility function to derive demand. By solving the profit function in two scenarios and calculating the profit difference ∆ π > 0, we get the decision rule : if ∆ π > 0, we should join the alliance. Sensitivity analysis reveals key thresholds for manufacturing and battery costs. The results show that higher manufacturing or battery costs are conducive to alliance membership, and the impact of profit sharing ratio on participation in decision-making is non-monotonic. This paper provides a quantitative framework for evaluating alliance participation and provides management insights for manufacturers and alliance leaders.