- INRIX surveyed 5,054 consumers in five countries, including 1,013 in the UK, to understand driver perceptions of connected and autonomous vehicles
Nearly a third of UK drivers (31%) trust traditional carmakers to build autonomous vehicles, whereas less than one in five (18%) would trust established tech giants and only 3% trust ridesharing companies - When asked who they trust to secure their connected car data and safeguard their privacy, a third of UK drivers responded nobody, followed closely by a quarter trusting traditional carmakers (27%) but only 18% said Silicon Valley’s tech titans
- The majority of UK drivers (61%) expect autonomous vehicles to be as safe or safer than current cars, yet fewer than one in five (17%) would actually buy one
Over half of UK drivers (53%) believe autonomous vehicles will be widely available within a decade - The majority of UK drivers (61%) expect autonomous vehicles to be as safe or safer than current cars, yet fewer than one in five (17%) would actually buy one
- Over half of UK drivers (53%) believe autonomous vehicles will be widely available within a decade
London, UK – May 23, 2017 – INRIX, Inc., the world leader in connected car services and location analytics, today published the results of its Connected & Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) Consumer Survey, revealing insight into drivers’ concerns about this emerging multi-trillion pound market.
Connected cars have more in common with smartphones than they do with cars of the past. However, UK drivers surveyed by INRIX were uncertain who to trust with their in-car data. A third of UK drivers do not trust anybody to secure connected car data, and among those who expressed a preference, 27% trusted traditional car makers with their data compared to only 18% who picked Silicon Valley’s tech giants.
The sentiment in the UK is echoed in Germany and France where only 8% and 13% of drivers, respectively, trust technology giants to secure in-car data. In contrast, 30% of US and 31% of Italian drivers have confidence in Silicon Valley.
“The UK is charging towards a transport revolution and time is ticking for Silicon Valley’s tech giants to address data security and privacy concerns,” said Dr Graham Cookson, Chief Economist & Head of Research, INRIX. “Consumers are more aware than ever of keeping their data safe, and the fact that they trust traditional carmakers over tech giants with their in-car data sends a powerful message.
“While UK drivers are more sceptical of today’s tech titans, traditional carmakers still need to do more to show consumers the benefits of their connected, and in the future, autonomous, vehicles to secure a concrete foothold in this highly lucrative market. As connected and autonomous vehicles become an essential part of brands’ business model, the stakes have never been higher.”
UK drivers can see the benefits of connected and autonomous vehicles. The most valued benefits are improved disabled and elderly access, increase in free time, and better safety (80%, 68% and 58% respectively). In fact, three in five drivers (61%) believe autonomous cars will be as safe or safer than cars today.
This could explain why over half of UK drivers (54%) believe that in-car technology is more important than the brand of the car when making a purchasing decision and 48% feel the technology is more significant than the car’s performance.
Over half of UK drivers (53%) believe autonomous vehicles will be widely available within a decade, rising to 61% among men, 64% of under-40s and 79% of under-21s. However, only 18% of UK consumers think autonomous vehicles will be available in the next five years.
Despite this, less than one in five UK drivers (17%) would be likely to purchase an autonomous vehicle and nearly seven in ten consumers (69%) think automakers are not doing a good job of explaining the benefits of connected cars.
For detailed findings of the INRIX Connected & Autonomous Vehicle Consumer Survey, including the complete report, please visit INRIX Resarch.
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Notes to Editors
Methodology
A total of 5,054 respondents from five countries took part in the survey, representing the driving population and reflecting ownership of the largest automakers and premium brands, including Ford, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Respondents, who all owned a vehicle under 4 years old, completed the survey online in their native language and were recruited from the Cint panel database. The report provides further details of the methodology and demographic composition of the respondents.
Connected Car Definition
Connected cars communicate with each other and the world around them primarily using mobile internet connections (e.g. 4G LTE). Many navigation systems already include connected vehicle functionality, such as dynamic routing informed by real-time traffic data. Connected vehicles provide the data with useful information. Autonomous vehicles are necessarily connected but use the information received to make choices for the driver and occupants. Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) has become the accepted terminology for these groups of vehicles.
About INRIX Research
INRIX Research leverages over 500 Terabytes of INRIX data from 300 million different sources covering over five million miles of road, and combining it with our other data sources including global parking, origin and destination trip data, fuel, point of interest, public transport, and road weather information. Together, our data provide a rich and fertile picture of urban mobility that enable us to produce valuable and actionable insights for policy makers, transport professionals, automakers and drivers. The INRIX Research team has researchers in Europe and North America and is comprised of economists, transportation policy specialists and data scientists with a mix of research backgrounds from academia, think tanks and commercial research and development groups.
