Auto Makers Threatened By Both Tech Company Autos And Ridesharing (caranddriver.com)

An anonymous reader quotes Car and Driver: For automakers, the first bit of bad news is that people seem quite receptive to buying a vehicle from a tech brand such as Apple or Google, according to Capgemini's 17th Cars Online report, which surveyed some 8000 consumers in eight countries... Consumer interest in buying cars from tech brands has grown from 49 percent in its 2015 study to 57 percent in the latest report... There is also the growing popularity of ride-sharing services offered by the likes of Uber and Lyft. Fewer people will feel the need to have their own car if it's easy and inexpensive to order up a cab on their smartphones. Capgemini's survey found that 34 percent of car buyers see ride sharing and related services as a genuine alternative to owning a vehicle.

Comments

Everybody wants a car

[rsilvergun]

Period. There's just too many advantages. Plus when you're a teenager cars get you laid.

That said, it's never been possible for everyone on earth to have a car. There just isn't enough metal to go around. Add to that burgeoning wealth inequality making cars unaffordable (just bought a 1 year old entry level sedan and by the time I'm done with insurance & warranties it'll run me $380/mo. And before you ask the warranty's only $40 and I have a spotless driving record in my 40s. Full coverage's a bitch) people just can't have cars anymore.

It's gonna be fun, because building cars was something high profit enough that the scraps companies leave their workers let them live a middle class life. Meanwhile I'm still seeing people blame rising minimum wage on the death of the American class. Oh well, now I'm just rambling.

Re:Everybody wants a car

[ShanghaiBill]

There just isn't enough metal to go around.

The earth's crust contains about 2.5e18 tons of aluminum and 1.25e18 tons of iron.

There are roughly 7 billion humans, so there is enough for each person to have 2.8 billion tons of aluminum and 1.8 billion tons of iron.

The real big advantage of tech companies.

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

There are many advantages of tech companies. They are used to stiff competition, fast life cycle of products, etc etc. But the biggest advantage they have is, they would not be running the race with 25 lb dead weights strapped to their ankles, so to speak. The past agreements the automakers have made with the National Association of Automobile Dealerships are extremely one sided and very onerous. NADA has the monopoly of all the autos made/imported into the USA. They have extraordinary political clout, some are exempt from the monopoly and restrictive trade practices act, and they are a strangle hold on the manufacturers.

Their clout is so high, it is not being talked about as much as the pension obligations of the big three, or the clout of labor unions over the manufacturers. If the cars made by tech alliance by passes the NADA, it would be a boon to the consumers.

Re:Automakers forget they make hardware

[ShanghaiBill]

I think key problem is that automakers forgot that they are in the hardware business.

GM is a hardware company. Tesla is a software company. Tesla is worth 100 times as much per unit of revenue.

Automakers know they are in the hardware business. They also know they need to get into the software business in a really big way.