Commentary

Consumers Like Advanced Features In Cars, But Not Paying For Them

On one side are connected cars. On the other are consumer preferences and the willingness to pay.

Consumer interest in advanced automation for cars has increased since 2014 and all U.S. consumers agree that safety related technologies are useful, based on a newly released study.

The catch is that the willingness to pay for these technologies has decreased over the last two years with fewer than half of U.S. consumers surveyed saying they trust traditional manufacturers to bring fully autonomous vehicles to market.

Fully autonomous generally means that the vehicle’s technology systems have full responsibility for controlling the car.

The study comprised a survey of 22,000 consumers in 17 countries conducted by Deloitte.

Interestingly, even though a majority of American consumers don’t currently use ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft to get around, those who do see car ownership as less necessary. Younger people hailing cars are four times more likely than older consumers to question the need to own a car in the future.

The good news for automakers is that the majority (67%) of U.S. consumers have a strong desire for adaptive safety features in cars, an increase of 11% from 2014. Here’s what U.S. consumers said they are interested in for connectedness in cars:

  • 73% -- Basic automation
  • 67% -- Adaptive safety features
  • 43% -- Limited self-drive
  • 39% -- Fully self-drive

Then there’s the issue of paying for such things. The study found that the amount U.S. consumers are willing to pay for various advanced features has declined by 30% since 2014.

At that time, the average amount consumers were willing to pay for advanced features was $1,370. Now it’s down to $925.

The obvious question remaining is who will pay for all the new connected technology coming in cars.

2 comments about "Consumers Like Advanced Features In Cars, But Not Paying For Them".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Mark Westlake from GearBrain, April 10, 2017 at 12:48 p.m.

    its all about dashboard technology for millenial car buyers!

  2. Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin, April 10, 2017 at 1:12 p.m.

    You may be right, Mark.

Next story loading loading..