Google Wedges Itself at the Heart of Auto Industry’s Future

To date, more than a handful of auto companies are pursuing the golden cup of self-driving vehicle technology. The list includes many global car names, including BMW, Ford, General Motors, Tesla, and Honda. Some lesser-known companies are also conducting their fair share of autonomous testing, such as Navya, Nuro, and Zoox.

Even tech companies are trying to grab a piece of the autonomous pie as well, from the usual suspects such as Apple and Google, to surprising entries such as the Baidu, Google’s Chinese counterpart.

But of all the names mentioned, Google stands out from the rest. The reason? Google is the more widely known brand with the farthest reach.

Google’s edge

People from all walks of life know Google because they use it daily. Google answers every question—from the most mundane question to the more complex ones—which makes it a trusted brand for solving life’s problems. And since consumer acceptance only happens with trust, Google is practically ahead of the curve before anyone else.

When John Krafcik, president of Waymo—Google’s renamed self-driving car project—started inviting people to participate in his company’s free self-driving car rider program in April, he made obvious the two main challenges that self-driving automotive technology face: First, the technology has to work safely and consistently. Second, consumers and regulators have to accept it. Fortunately for Google/Waymo, they have all the weapons needed to tackle both challenges.

The first challenge requires money and know-how, while the second challenge calls for trust from both consumers and regulators alike. Google has all these potential tipping point factors in spades.

Couple that with the world’s growing awareness and acceptance of self-driving car technology, and Google is clearly in an enviable position.

Self-driving cars gain wider traction

Recent studies show that modern drivers are becoming more open to the idea of self-driving cars, with millennials the most accepting and  baby boomers the most apprehensive. The studies also reveal that luxury car owners are nearly two times more comfortable with driving autonomous vehicles in the future, mainly because they are already exposed to enabling technologies such as automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping systems, etc.

Of course, awareness and acceptance doesn’t necessarily lead to widespread adoption, as the stagnation of hybrid technology proves. Still, Google/Waymo deserves credit for attacking both sides of the coin.

Autonomous vehicle technology has the potential to make cars safer and more convenient. It can even allow people of advanced age and those with physical and mental disabilities to enjoy traveling. Clearly, self-driving cars will disrupt the automotive landscape as we know it, and that alone makes it a worthy undertaking.