A study has revealed what drivers want from the industry. It’s not so much the autonomous driving as more safety systems.
Blind spot warning and automatic emergency braking are higher on drivers’ wish lists than hands-free driving systems. Automakers love touting the sophisticated autonomous driving capabilities of their new cars, but a new study suggests self-driving technology sits further down the list on priority lists for new car purchases.
Almost every major brand now offers their cars with at least one Level 2 autonomous driving system that partially enables the car to drive. Level 2+ systems such as General Motors great cruise and Ford’s Blue Cruise allow hands-free driving on US highways, but still require drivers to keep their eyes on the road. In Germany is the minimum level 3 necessary for freeway freehand driving, whereby Mercedes Benz standing alone with the S-Class.
But contemporary buyers are much more interested in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) such as blind spot warning, a reversing camera, collision warning or automatic emergency braking systems with pedestrian and bicycle traffic detection. A 2023 consumer survey by S&P Global Mobility ranked these four features as the most desirable, with at least 80 percent of all respondents ranking each feature highly.
In contrast, only 61 percent expressed a desire for a fully self-driving car, and none of the other autonomous options on offer achieved a higher approval rating of 64.9 percent. Analysts at S&P Global Mobility stated that this was due to a lack of Trust into autonomous systems on the part of buyers, noting that only 47 percent of consumers would be willing to ride in a car with self-driving capabilities and consider such a purchase.
However, the results differed depending on geographic location. consumer in China were far more open to the idea of self-driving cars than those in the US, UK and Germany, for example.