Drivers would choose an Apple iCar to a self-driving Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, or GM
Apple may never have designed a car, but that doesn’t mean drivers wouldn’t mind if they did.
A fresh explore shows that drivers put greater confidence in tech giants like Apple and Google than in any major automakers when it comes to the self-driving car.
In January, Audi wowed attendees and the visiting press alike when its autonomous cars parked themselves with nothing more than a smartphone app at the International Consumer Electronics Showcase. BMW has logged more than Ten,000 miles and counting on highways and byways testing its own self-driving cars and in July, Volvo invited the world’s motoring press to Gothenburg to see for themselves the strides the company has taken in using sensors, GPS and other technologies to create cars that are essentially incapable of having accidents.
Yet, if the latest KPMG survey is to be believed, despite the massive strides all of these companies have taken towards making self-driving cars a reality, the average consumer would rather buy an autonomous vehicle from Apple than from any of the world’s leading car makers.
Despite the fact that the computer, phone and tablet maker is yet to dip as much as a little toe in the waters of the self-driving car market, when respondents were asked to score (on a scale of one to ten) how much they would favor or trust an autonomous car from a list of companies, both Apple and Google scored a remarkable eight out of ten, compared with 7.Five for Mercedes Benz and five for Nissan and General Motors.
The probe, which used a concentrate group of US drivers from California, Illinois and Fresh Jersey, also found that West Coast drivers are the most in favor of possessing an autonomous car. LA residents ranked their readiness to use a self-driving car on a daily basis as nine out of ten, whereas Chicago residents were rather less struck, with an average score of four out of ten. Fresh Jersey residents were a little more ready with a six-out-of-ten median.
Apple might not make cars, but that is no barrier to consumers wanting a vehicle built by the company.
The results also highlight that those drivers who already have a taste of active safety systems and driver aids, such as park assist radar-guided cruise control — i.e. BMW, Audi and Mercedes drivers — are already well on their way to embracing utter autonomous driving technologies.
And even tho’ driving and car ownership are traditionally marketed as rites of passage and as expressions of freedom, control and individuality, KPMG’s report, “Self-Driving Cars, Are We Ready?” highlights that for an enlargening number of US motorists, the possibility of swifter commute times, less stress and accident avoidance is too good an chance to pass up and that as long as there was a manual override switch drivers would embrace automated cars very quickly.
“We believe that self-driving cars will be profoundly disruptive to the traditional automotive ecosystem,” said Gary Silberg, KPMG auto accomplished and author of the report. The company’s polling bears that out, albeit KPMG is quick to add the caveat that while “concentrate group discussions are valuable for the qualitative, directional insights they provide. they are not statistically valid.”
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