Car buyers want more safety tech, not self-driving; says study

While consumers are keen to have safety features, they don't like the idea of having to pay extra for them.

While major car brands are working on offering models with Level 2 autonomous driving tech, a new study shows that self-driving tech sits low on the list of priorities when a customer is buying a new car.

The study shows customers are far more interested in the ADAS tech, which brings in multiple safety features like blind-spot detection, a backup camera, forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian & cycling detection. The study was conducted by S&P Global Mobility, which stated that the aforementioned safety features were rated as the most desirable by at least 80% of the respondents.

Reports also suggested that, in contrast, only 61% of the respondents wanted a fully self-driving car. S&P Global Mobility stated that the reason came down to customers not trusting the autonomous tech. They also noted that just 47% of the respondents were open to riding in a car with self-driving abilities and would consider buying one.

Although, the study did mention that the results could vary depending on the geographical location. While consumers in China welcome the idea of self-driving cars, car buyers in the USA, UK and Germany - not so much.

Another key point the study brought to light was that while consumers are keen to have safety features, they don't like the idea of having to pay extra for them. The study showed that more than 50% of car buyers want the safety features to be offered as standard.

Source: S&P Global Mobility