Google self-driving car; Google photo
Some day in the future when high-tech, self-driving cars are available, consumers may think of them as high-tech first and cars second, and look to buy them from high-tech companies instead of car companies.
That’s a takeaway from a thought-provoking study on self-driving cars from KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm.
“The market is very open for new entrants like tech companies,” like Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Google, Intel or others, said Gary Silberg, a KPMG partner and national industry leader, automotive.
Other key findings included what Silberg found to be the most appealing hypothetical customer benefits: shorter and more predictable commute times – predictability was an important benefit — plus the ability to “turn off” self-driving when desired.
So-called “mobility on demand” could be another important attraction, he said in a recent phone interview. That is, a pay-as-you-go setup as opposed to full-time ownership of a vehicle which after all is sitting around most of the time doing nothing, when you’re not using it.
The results are based on respondents in California, Chicago and New Jersey who were interviewed in focus groups in the late spring and early summer. It’s qualitative – a deep dive with a relatively small sample – as opposed to quantitative, like an online questionnaire with a big, nationwide sample.
In all regions, Silberg said, respondents rated the tech companies higher than automotive brands, even premium automotive brands, when it comes to developing self-driving cars.
“Why? This is all about software, connectivity, lasers – it’s all tech. And people think these companies know how to integrate all these technologies,” he said. “It’s not about the engine and the power of the car.”
Meanwhile Google for instance reportedly has logged more than half a million miles in self-driving mode in modified Toyota Prius models fitted out with its experimental self-driving technology.
Who knows? Google says it’s just experimenting with self-driving in a high-level, Looking at Big World Problems sort of way, and not for any specific outcome, much less with any idea of getting in the car business.
But if some day Google ever decided to build its own self-driving car, “Google it,” could mean getting from Point A to Point B, instead of looking something up.
from Forbes.com: Most popular stories http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimhenry/2013/10/31/maybe-some-day-we-will-yell-for-a-google-instead-of-a-taxi-kpmg-study-says/
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