What do people want? Save me time and ensure my safety

Consumers continue to entertain the evolution of their mobility ecosystem. They are interested in advanced automotive technologies, including autonomous vehicles, connectivity, mobility, but also pay attention to environment issues. According to the most recent annual survey, the 2019 Deloitte Global Automotive Consumer Study, consumers worries about autonomous cars and ask for significant amount of control over the development and use of autonomous vehicles (AVs).

The European version of the report takes a direct look at consumer attitudes from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Consumers “pump the brakes” on interest in AVs

According to the study, consumer trust in AVs appears to be stalling. As the technology gets ever closer to scalable, real-world application, consumers are questioning if autonomous vehicles are safe, which is causing some people to take a more cautious approach to the idea.

A majority of consumers want their governments to exert a significant amount of control over the development and use of AVs. An overwhelming percentage of consumers in most European countries (but not only) indicated they wanted “significant oversight” (from 58 percent in Austria to 73 percent in Netherlands).

In 2018, consumer trust in AVs was on the rise as compared with 2017, but presently, consumer confidence appears to have reached a plateau, which study authors say could be due to a series of negative, high-profile incidents involving autonomous vehicles.

In Romania, it is difficult to predict how the market will react to autonomous vehicles. At this moment, the AVs are not seen by the majority of Romanians as an option to mobility.

Electric Vehicles will conquer the world

In the same time, electric vehicles (EVs) have captured worldwide consumer interest. The demand is significantly growing in Asia Pacific (AP) and the European Union (EU) due to supportive environmental policies, big-brand bets, and shifting consumer attitudes. But low fuel prices in North America (NA) are keeping consumers away. 

Regarding EVs Romania, through the Ministry of Environment, has implemented a stimulation program for the acquisition of electric and hybrid cars and every year we observed an increase of the consumers’ preferences for these cars. In the first eight month of this year, on Romanian market have been sold 4,166 hybrid and electric cars, 60% higher than those registered throughout the same period of 2018 (2,603), according to data from Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association (APIA). However, the number of this cars remains low in Romania, due to the fact that they are still expensive for the majority of Romanians.

Consumers may be reluctant to pay for connectivity

When it comes to vehicle connectivity, consumer opinion is split. Consumers in Italy are embracing the idea at roughly twice the rate compared to Germany and Austria. Consumer opinions also differ on specific concerns around connectivity, including the security of biometric data generated and shared by connected vehicles.

Mobility revolution faces significant headwinds, because overall consumer behavior is proving difficult to change. Consumers now have more choice than ever about mobility, leading to an array of new decisions about how to get around and how to connect while they’re on the move.

However, daily usage of personally owned vehicles is quite high in some markets, but even where usage is lower, the expectation is to maintain the “status quo” into the next decade.