Volvo plans to test up to 100 self-driving cars in China
China: Swedish automobile giant Volvo plans to launch
up to 100 self-driving cars in Beijing, as an experiment to build consumer
trust in the self-driving technology. As China is the largest automobile market
in the world, the company is aiming at increasing the sales by 10 percent year-on-year
in 2016. The autonomous drive experiment will be conducted in limited driving
situations such as on express roads and highways in which the local drivers would
test autonomous cars on public roads in everyday conditions.
Volvo,
wholly owned by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co, is currently looking for
a city that could allow this experiment to take place and provide the necessary
permissions, regulations and infrastructure. Furthermore, this experiment aims
at increasing the awareness about the upcoming technologies such as
self-driving cars in China. Volvo’s Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said, “I
think we need to build up (consumer) trust in the technology. So you have to
bring it out and demonstrate it.” He further added, “It has to be a big city
where there are lots of consumers, wasting an hour a day in the cars (sitting
in traffic). That's I think realistically where this function can be sold
commercially.”
The
self-driving cars are normal cars fitted with driver assistance systems that would
alert the driver when autopilot mode is activated, on freeways or in specific
zones, giving the driver the option to steer in such conditions. Driverless
cars also have a voice controlled feature with no steering wheel and the riders
can drive anywhere under any conditions.
Currently,
Volvo, Tesla, Mercedes, Audi and Alphabet Inc.'s Google are also developing
self-driving vehicles. Another official of the company said, “What we're doing
is giving these cars to people and using real people as our data set, so the
information they generate will help us implement the technology.” Volvo aims to
sell around 200,000 units in Asia Pacific by 2020, with China accounting for
the major share.
According
to a recent report published by TechSci
Research, “Global Autonomous Car
Technology Market
Forecast and Opportunities, 2035”, besides engine performance and design,
evolution of autonomous features in passenger cars is garnering attention of
consumers across the world. Backed by anticipated increase in regulations
mandating integration of autonomous technology in new vehicles, decline in prices
of autonomous technology and the rising focus on safety on roads, the global
autonomous car technology market is expected to witness a CAGR of over 10%
through 2035. Furthermore, North America is the largest contributor in the
market for autonomous car technology, followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC)
and Middle East North Africa (MENA).
As
per TechSci Research, this strategy by the automobile giant would help in
increasing the consumer awareness about the new technological advancements in
autonomous vehicles, thereby building consumer trust. Moreover, China is the
largest automobile market in the world, hence it would aid Volvo to capitalise
on the growing demand, consequently leading to an inclination in its market
share in Chinese passenger car market.