As autonomous vehicle (AV) technology gets ever closer to scalable, real-world application, consumer trust in the safety of AVs appears to be stalling, according to the 2019 Deloitte Global Automotive Consumer Study.
“Consumers remain skeptical of AV safety, but we believe there will be a longer-term trend toward gradual acceptance of AVs as familiarity with the technology increases and as the benefits of self-driving cars are demonstrated,” says Thomas Schiller, European automotive leader, Deloitte Germany. “The automotive industry needs to factor into its plans the long capital investment cycle that will be required to bring flawless autonomous vehicle technology into the mainstream. And a majority of consumers will want governments to exert a significant amount of control over the development and use of AVs.”
The drive to electrification
This year’s study uncovered increasing consumer demand for electric vehicles (EVs), revealing that electrification could make a more immediate impact on global mobility than AVs.
While some barriers to mass adoption do remain, demand for EVs is growing across Europe due to supportive environmental policies, big brand bets, and shifting consumer attitudes. Interest grew fastest in the UK, where 37 percent would prefer a nontraditional powertrain, up 10 percent from last year – including hybrid, battery or other alternative – for their next vehicle.
“EVs can reduce the negative environmental impact caused by burning fossil fuels for transportation. And autonomous vehicles have the potential to dramatically improve road safety by reducing driver error. These are undeniably positive goals, but achieving them may be challenging,” continues Schiller. “Most analysts agree that electrified, autonomous vehicles will be part of our lives at some point in the future, but there are varying opinions on how long this may take. Some say this revolution may play out over the next several years. A more conservative view tempers this enthusiasm by taking into account several headwinds.”
Mobility revolution faces headwinds
The mobility revolution seems to be running up against entrenched consumer behavior, as consumers remain committed to private car ownership and multi-modal transportation remains an occasional behavior.
Private-car ownership continues to prevail: Daily usage of personally-owned vehicles is quite high in some European markets, but even where usage is lower, the expectation is to maintain the status quo in the coming years. The percentage of consumers that use their own vehicle every day ranges between 37 percent in the Netherlands to 66 percent in Italy and respondents across markets indicated they expect this usage to remain about the same over the next three years.
Multi-modal transportation remains low: The idea of integrating multiple modes of mobility, such as a subway or a commuter train in addition to a private vehicle, into one trip remains largely an occasional behavior for consumers.
Along with new transportation options, connectivity has unlocked an array of new choices for consumers purchasing vehicles:
Top
priorities: Survey respondents
overwhelmingly favored connected vehicle features which would save them time
and ensure their safety. Updates regarding traffic congestion and alternate
routes, suggestions on safer routes, and updates to improve road safety and
prevent potential collisions were consistently listed as the top three
connected car features.
Consumers split on the benefits of connectivity: When it comes to vehicle
connectivity, consumer opinion is split. Consumers in Italy (60 percent) are
embracing the idea of vehicle connectivity at almost twice the rate of
consumers in Austria (29 percent) and Germany (35 percent).
Data collection and privacy: Connected-vehicle sensors can track everything from powertrain performance and operational statistics to geolocation information and occupant wellness. More than half of respondents from Austria, Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands are concerned about biometric data being captured via a connected vehicle and shared with external parties, whereas a smaller percentage of consumers in Belgium, France, and Italy expressed similar concerns.
Who should manage the data?: Consumer concern extends to who whould manage the data being generated and shared by connected vehicles. While some would trust original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in this role, many would prefer anybody else – from government to auto dealers, insurance companies, cloud service providers, or others.
Reluctance to pay for connectivity: Once consumers are sold on a feature, they are not necessarily sold on the price. Approximately half of consumers in the Netherlands, Austria, France, and Germany are not willing to pay any extra money for a connected vehicle. Consumers in Italy and the UK are most likely to be willing to spend more for these features, with 72 percent of responents in Italy and 63 percent of respondents in the UK indicating they’d spend some money for a vehicle with certain kinds of connectivity technologies.
The utopian visions of future of mobility systems will not come to fruition overnight. As global consumers start to critically evaulate advanced vehicle technologies and whether they are willing to pay for them, OEMs are in the position of needing to push forward on costly R&D programs with little assurance of when this may realize a return on investment.
“Connected, electrified, and autonomous vehicles offer tremendous value for society, but consumers may be slow to adopt these advanced technologies at scale until there is clear and undisputed improvement in safety, cost, convenience, and superior customer experience from a trusted brand,” says Joe Vitale, Deloitte Global automotive sector leader.