Report reveals impact of self-driving cars

KPMG and the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Michigan have released a report that reveals how close automotive industry is to rolling out ‘self-driving’ or autonomous vehicles and their expected impact on society. The authors foresee the first such vehicles hitting showrooms in 2019, with a more developed infrastructure by 2025. The report, titled ‘Self-Driving Car: The Next Revolution’, is based on interviews with leading technologists, automotive industry leaders, academics, and regulators, as well as research and analysis of industry trends. The study examines the forces of change, the current and emerging technologies, the path to bring these innovations to market, the likelihood that they will achieve wide adoption from consumers, and their potential impact on the automotive ecosystem.

In the report, KPMG and CAR present the hypotheses on how self-driving vehicle technology could unfold and its potential impacts, with an emphasis on the convergence of sensor-based and communication-based vehicle technologies. The report points out that the new technology could provide solutions to some of the world’s most intractable social problems: the high cost of traffic crashes and transportation infrastructure; the millions of hours wasted in traffic congestion; and the wasted urban space given over to parking lots.

Gary Silberg, national automotive industry leader for KPMG and co-author of the report, commented, “For the past 100 years, the automotive industry has been a force for innovation and economic growth. Now the pace of innovation is speeding up and the industry is on the brink of a new technological revolution with ‘self-driving’ vehicles. If they become a mainstream reality, it would be profoundly disruptive to the automotive ecosystem and may have far-reaching implications for the traditional automotive value chain and beyond. Like many of the industry leaders, academics, and policy makers interviewed, we believe the age of the self-driving vehicle is coming. But getting there will require that many pieces of a large puzzle fit together. When and how that will happen, remain open questions.”

Co-author and director of transportation systems analysis at CAR, Richard Wallace, added, “For those who embrace innovation and opt to lead rather than follow, a new frontier is opening in the realm of mobility services. Some may ask if it is still just science fiction or if the market will accept them and pay for them. We think the answer is a resounding yes; the marketplace will not merely accept self-driving vehicles, it will be the engine pulling the auto industry forward.”

16 August 2012