Porsche Turns Down Driverless Cars
Consumers would much rather enjoy driving a sports car themselves, Porsche boss says
Luxury car manufacturer Porsche has revealed it has no plans to begin working on driverless cars.
Despite many top firms announcing they are looking in to the technology, Porsche has refused to jump on the bandwagon, citing consumer preferences for how they experience high-powered vehicles.
Company chief executive Oliver Blume told German newspaper Westfalen-Blatt that people wanted “to drive a Porsche by oneself” rather than having the cars drive themselves.
Self-ish
Blume also stated that Porsche did not need to team up with any technology firms for future vehicles, stating, “partnerships are generally not a bad idea…but we are part of a strong group.”
“I am impressed by the technology dynamics of (technology companies),” he added, “We can only learn from them and we have to see how it works with our expertise.”
“Can Apple build a comparable Porsche? No. Will Apple build a Porsche? No.”
This is slightly surprising, given that Volkswagen, Porsche’s parent company, signed a deal with Chinese technology heavyweight Huawei last May to co-operate on car connectivity.
Driverless cars are increasingly proving a popular choice for car makers and governments eager to sponsor the next generation of innovation. Last month, the Obama administration announced it would be working with several major companies to use $4bn (£2.8bn) of funding over the next decade to support the development of autonomous vehicles.
Gartner predicted earlier this year that the number of connected ‘smart’ cars, able to monitor the environment around them and possibly even drive themselves, will skyrocket in the next few years.
It predicted that by 2020, over a quarter of a billion connected vehicles will be on the world’s roads as the technology implanted in them improves. That equates to around one in every five cars on the planet.
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