Ninety-six percent of car owners according to a recent report think they will own a car in the future.
However, almost half of them would consider giving up car ownership if autonomous mobility in the form of self-driving buses or taxis was an available option.
The report from Accenture is titled, “Mobility Services: The Customer Perspective,” and it highlights main challenges that car manufacturers face now and in the future when considering the rise in mobility services.
The report studies five areas: brand strength, vehicle ownership, service monetization, city vs. countryside and in-car personalization.
The report notes that vehicle brand is losing its importance. Respondents overall ranked brand as the sixth most important factor for car buying but 10th in the area of car-sharing. They answered that question considering areas such as price, speed, flexibility, comfort, environmental impact, brand and privacy.
“While brand clearly enables some auto manufacturers to charge a premium for their products, the importance of brand will likely fade for the product and shift to the service as the popularity of car-sharing services and autonomous vehicles grows,” Accenture managing director Juergen Reers, who leads its Mobility X.0 practice, said in a news release.
Another key finding of the study is that respondents showed a strong interest for add-on services to autonomous mobility trips. Some of those services include music and video streaming, wellness options such as massage seats, and food and hotel services.
Eighty-nine percent of all respondents — and 97% of those between 18 and 37 years old — expressed interest in those add-on services. The report also measured that question in terms of geography, with respondents in China much more likely to pay for those types of services.
“There is clearly great interest — and therefore significant revenue potential — for add-on services in the future of autonomous mobility,” Reers said. “To get a jump on the competition, car companies should start piloting and refining these services to be ready once autonomous vehicles hit the market.”
Yet another top finding of the study is the untapped potential for autonomous vehicles outside cities. Forty-five percent would be willing to relocate from their current place of residence if they could use autonomous vehicles for their daily commute. Fifty-five percent of respondents in China would be willing to relocate, 42% of European respondents and 37% of U.S. respondents.
Thirty-four percent of all respondents would consider moving to a suburb or rural area when autonomous vehicles become available. The report notes that although most auto manufacturers focus their autonomous driving activities on urban areas, they should expand that focus to suburban and rural areas. Thirty-seven percent of urban premium customers would consider moving to those areas if they could use autonomous vehicles for their daily commutes.
And another finding is that owners of premium-brand cars were more likely than owners of non-premium brands to be willing to give up car ownership for autonomous mobility.
For the survey of 7,000 consumers in the U.S., Europe and China, 85% of respondents were car owners. The study projects revenues from mobility services to reach nearly €1.2 trillion by 2030.
Source : AutoFinanceNews
