ERICSSONCONSUMERLABTHESELF-DRIVINGFUTUREConsumerviewsonlettinggoofthewheelandwhat’snextforautonomouscarsAnEricssonConsumerInsightSummaryReportFebruary2017Contents3.DRIVERLESSBECOMESAREALITY4.THELOVEOFDRIVING5.WHO’SUPFORDRIVERLESS?6.LETTINGGOOFTHEWHEEL7.THEAUTONOMOUSECOSYSTEM8.SHAREDOROWNED?9.ANARRAYOFMOBILITYPLAYERS11.NEWMOBILITYPATTERNSMETHODOLOGYThisreportpresentsinsightsfromEricssonConsumerLabAnalyticalPlatformfortheyears2013–16.Inaddition,EricssonConsumerLabhasconductedsocialmediaanalysisduring2016onconsumers´attitudestowardscardriving.Themaintargetgroupissmartphoneusersaged15–69acrossarangeofcitiesandcountries,withasamplesizeofapproximately1,000interviewsforeachcityorcountry.However,samplesizesdodifferthroughoutthereport.Alldataisbasedonprobabilitysamplingandconductedmainlythroughonlinedatacollection.SourcesandbasesforrespectiveinsightsarepresentedineachchartthroughoutthereportERICSSONCONSUMERLABTHESELF-DRIVINGFUTURE2017thevoiceoftheconsumerEricssonConsumerLabhasmorethan20years’experienceofstudyingpeople’sbehaviorsandvalues,includingthewaytheyactandthinkaboutICTproductsandservices.EricssonConsumerLabprovidesuniqueinsightsonmarketandconsumertrends.EricssonConsumerLabgainsitsknowledgethroughaglobalconsumerresearchprogrambasedoninterviewswith100,000individualseachyear,inmorethan40countries–statisticallyrepresentingtheviewsof1billionpeople.Bothquantitativeandqualitativemethodsareused,andhundredsofhoursarespentwithconsumersfromdifferentcultures.Tobeclosetothemarketandconsumers,EricssonConsumerLabhasrepresentativesthroughoutEricsson’sglobalpresence,developinganinternationalunderstandingoftheICTmarketandbusinessmodels.Allreportscanbefoundat:www.ericsson.com/consumerlabDriverlessbecomesarealityAutonomous(alsoknownasself-drivingordriverless)carsarenolongerconfinedtosciencefictionmovies;they’rebecomingareality.In2017,liveprojectsinvolvingautonomouscarswillbecarriedoutincitiesaroundtheworld1,includingPittsburgh,GothenburgandSingapore.Althoughtheseprojectsaretrials,theirexistenceindicatesthatafutureinwhichself-drivingcarsarearealitymightbecloserthanwethink.Technologicalbreakthroughssuchas5Gconnectivityandartificialintelligence(AI)arebehindthephenomenon,andaremakingitpossibleforcarstodrivethemselves.Thischallengesthepreviouslymandatoryrelationshipbetweenthedriverandcar.Inthisreport,EricssonConsumerLabconsidersthereactionofdriverstothisdevelopment,aswellaswhatthefutureofself-drivingcarsmightlooklikefromaconsumerperspective.Furthertothis,Teslaisalreadyofferingsomeautonomousdrivefunctionalitywithfutureimprovementsthroughsoftwareupdates.Theyareevenpromisingcoast-to-coastfullyautonomousdrivingintheUSbeforetheendof2017KeyFindingsCarloverspreferself-drivingcarsFifty-threepercentofworkingfamilieswithchildrenwhoexpressinterestinself-drivingcarsalsosaythattheyarepassionateaboutvehicles.Thisiscomparedtojust35percentofagroupofworkingconsumerswithoutchildrenwhodonotexpressaninterest.Moreover,thosewhoexpressaninterestinself-drivingcarsalsoseethemselvesasopinionleadersonvehicles.ConsumersinterestedinautonomouscarsbutfearlettinggoofthewheelAlready,oneinfoursmartphoneusersstatesthattheywouldpreferanautonomouscartoonetheydrivethemselves,despitethefactthatautonomousvehiclesarenotyetpartofeverydaytraffic.Additionally,7in10stateaninterestinself-drivingfeatures,suchascruisecontrolandparkingassistance.Althoughthereishighinterestinself-drivingfunctionalityandfeatures,consumersstillseemtofearlettinggoofthewheel.AboostforcitysatisfactionandpedestriansafetyTraffichasahighimpactonsatisfactionlevelsinacity.Byfreeingthedriver,autonomouscarsmayeasethepainofcommutingandimprovetheexperienceoftraffic.Inaddition,oneinfourpedestriansalreadysaysthattheywouldfeelsaferifallcarswerefullyautonomous.Self-drivingcarsfromICTplayersindemandInthefuture,informationandcommunicationtechnology(ICT)isexpectedtoenabledifferentmodesoftransportation,andthischangeisindemandfromconsumers.In14citiesaroundtheworld,40percentofadvancedinternetusersarealreadyveryinterestedincarsdesignedbythe5biggestITcompaniesForexampleinPittsburg,www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-08-18/uber-s-first-self-driving-fleet-arrives-in-pittsburgh-this-month-is06r7onorinSingapore,www.technologyreview.com/s/533601/singapore-wants-a-driverless-version-of-uber/2www.wired.com/2017/01/teslas-new-autopilot-may-seem-lame-critical-reboot/ERICSSONCONSUMERLABTHESELF-DRIVINGFUTURE20173TheloveofdrivingThefirstmass-producedcarwasmanufacturedintheearly20thcentury,empoweringconsumerstogoanywhere,atanytimeandforareasonablecost.Thisisalsohowdrivingacarisoftenportrayedincommercials:asasymboloffreedom,speedandperformance.Assuch,asenseoffreedomandaloveofdrivingareoftencloselyconnectedtocarownership.Theyarealsotwoofthemostcommonfactorscitedasreasonsfornotembracingself-drivingcars.Forexample,inaUS-basedstudyfromAutoPacific,56percentofrespondentsstatedthattheysimplylovedrivingandthereforewouldnevergiveitup,whilenearlyhalfsaidthatdriverlesscarswouldtakeallthefunoutofdriving“Iknowmycarisnotthebestcar.ButIsuredolovetodrivearoundfreelyandgowhereverIwantandwheneverIwant.Itgivesthedrivermorefreedom”CommentonTwitterfromamanaged27,USA,2016Figure1:Theloveofdrivingasabarriertoself-drivingcars47%sayaself-drivingcarwouldtakeallthefunoutofdriving56%lovedrivingandwouldn’twanttogiveitupThesefindingsraiseanimportantquestion:ifpeoplelovedrivingsomuch,istheautonomouscardestinedtofailbeforeitevenhitstheroad?Source:AutoPacific,2016Base:InternetuserswhoarealsocardriversintheUSDoestheloveofdrivingmeanthatself-drivingcarsaredestinedtofail?3Source:AutoPacific,2016.Base:InternetuserswhoarealsocardriversintheUS4ERICSSONCONSUMERLABTHESELF-DRIVINGFUTURE2017Who’supfordriverless?Ifaloveofdrivingispreventingsomeconsumersfromembracingself-drivingcars,whoissupportingthetechnology?Whenitcomestothosewhoareinterestedinautonomouscars,anumberofcommoncharacteristicsstandout;theyareoftenwhite-collarprofessionalswithchildreninthehousehold,whoalreadyuseacartocommute.Thisprovidesaninsightintothetypeofconsumerwhomaychoosetouseautonomouscarsinthefuture.Car-loverspreferself-drivingcarsTofindoutmoreaboutconsumers’attitudestowardsautonomouscars,EricssonConsumerLabanalyzedtwogroupsofcardriverswithopposingviewpoints.Thefirstgroupwastypicalofthosewhoexpressedaninterestinself-drivingcars,whilethesecondgroupexpressedalowerinterestinself-drivingcars.Fifty-threepercentofworkingfamilieswithchildrenwhoexpressinterestinself-drivingcarssaythattheyarepassionateaboutvehicles.Thisiscomparedtojust35percentofagroupofworkingconsumerswithoutchildrenwhodonotexpressaninterest.Thegroupwithahighinterestinself-drivingcarsalsoseethemselvesasopinionleadersandauthoritiesonvehiclestoamuchgreaterextent.Theystatethattheirfriendsandfamilyaskthemforadviceonvehicles,andthattheyareoftenthefirsttotrynewvehiclesandfeatures.Figure2:Attitudesofworkingfamilieswithchildren,whoareinterestedinself-drivingcarsAdvocatesofself-drivingcarsareoftenwhite-collarprofessionalswithchildrenwhouseacartocommuteProfessionalswithkidswhoareinterestedinself-drivingcarsalso:40%Arethefirsttotrynewvehiclesorthingsrelatedtovehicles53%Arepassionateaboutvehicles54%HaveagreatdealofknowledgeandexperiencewithvehiclesSource:EricssonConsumerLabAnalyticalPlatform,2016Base:23,040smartphoneownerswhousedinternetonasmartphoneonamonthlybasis,aged15–69across27countriesERICSSONCONSUMERLABTHESELF-DRIVINGFUTURE20175