While significant headway has been made recently in regard to the development of autonomous vehicles, much of the public still lack trust in self-driving systems. A recent survey by MaritzCX shows that luxury car owners – particularly those with an Infiniti or Mercedes – are the most likely to purchase an autonomous car.
MaritzCX surveyed more than 12,000 vehicle owners between May and August this year. The survey found that approximately 27 per cent of Infiniti and Mercedes owners are “very interested” in buying a fully self-driving auto when they become available. This is compared to 21 per cent of Toyota owners and 18 to 20 per cent of Chevrolet, Honda and Ford owners. Those least interested were the owners of vehicles geared towards utility purposes, with less than 10 per cent of Jeep and Ram owners willing to relinquish control of their vehicles.
However, not all luxury car owners are enthusiastic about self-driving technology. When MaritzCX asked drivers about a lack of interest in the technology, Porsche ranked third with 57 per cent and BMW was fourth with 56 per cent. This is could be due to the fact that these brands tend to be marketed as “cars for drivers”. The same logic may apply to Mercedes and Infiniti, which have been marketing the semi-autonomous features they already offer and the autonomous vehicles they are developing.
Overall, the enthusiasm for autonomous cars is low, with the vast majority of car owners stating that they would not be interested in purchasing a fully self-driving auto when it becomes available.